Electrochemical Measurements of Composite Films Made from TiO2 and SiO2 Extracted from Rice Husk

Abstract

Composite materials have been found in many applications in the recent years where they have been widely used in ceramic and electronic industry. For example, the efficiency of solar cells has been improved by using composite films of semiconductors and insulators in some studies. In this study, composite films of TiO2 and SiO2 have been made by mixing TiO2 powder with silica extracted from rice husk which is an agricultural waste. Thin films were fabricated with these films and they were characterized with impedance spectroscopy and Mott-Schottky measurements. It was observed that the addition of SiO2 to TiO2 films shifts the flat band potential of TiO2 to lower values of electrochemical potential. At the same time impedance of the films increased to higher values incorporating silica in the composite films.