Photoactive thin-film structures of curcumin, TiO2 and ZnO

Anish Philip, Ramin Ghiyasi, Maarit Karppinen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)
109 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Curcumin is known as a biologically active compound and a possible antimicrobial agent. Here, we combine it with TiO2 and ZnO semiconductors, known for their photocatalytic properties, with an eye towards synergistic photo-harvesting and/or antimicrobial effects. We deposit different nanoscale multi-layer structures of curcumin, TiO2 and ZnO, by combining the solution-based spin-coating (S-C) technique and the gas-phase atomic layer deposition (ALD) and molecular layer deposition (MLD) thin-film techniques. As one of the highlights, we demonstrate for these multi-layer structures a red-shift in the absorbance maximum and an expansion of the absorbance edge as far as the longest visible wavelength region, which activates them for the visible light harvesting. The novel fabrication approaches introduced here should be compatible with, e.g., textile substrates, opening up new horizons for novel applications such as new types of protective masks with thin conformal antimicrobial coatings.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3214
Number of pages12
JournalMolecules
Volume26
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2021
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Absorption
  • Atomic/molecular layer deposition
  • Curcumin
  • Multi-layered structures
  • Spin coating
  • Titanium dioxide
  • Zinc oxide

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