Nanostructures based on ZnO and TiO2 oxides produced by PLD in open air

We report on the fabrication of highly porous metal-oxide nanostructures by pulsed laser deposition performed in air at atmospheric pressure. The depositions were performed by ablating synthesized ZnO and a mixed target of ZnO and TiO2 as initial materials. The attention was focused on the structure, morphology, optical and photocatalytic properties of the as-deposited nanostructures of the ZnO-TiO2 system. The technology applied leads to the formation of nanostructures composed of nanoparticles. The as-prepared samples possess a high transmittance in the visible and near IR region with an optical band gap in the range of 3.1 - 3.2 eV. It was demonstrated that the as-deposited ZnO and ZnO-TiO2 nanostructures degrade Rhodamine B up to 43 - 44% after 300-min UV irradiation.