Abstract

In this study, we attempted to explore pure and silver (Ag) doped vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) thin films on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) glass substrates using thermal evaporation method. The prepared pure and Ag doped V2O5 thin films were characterized for their structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies exhibited that the Ag doped V2O5 films had an orthorhombic structure, and the estimated average crystallite size decreased with raising Ag concentrations. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that Ag doped V2O5 thin film exhibited a spherical-like structure. The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analysis of doped films revealed that the elongated rectangular shape had a high surface roughness. The optical band gap (eV) values were increased from 2.48 to 2.65 eV as the doping percentages increased from 2 to 8 wt %. The electrical properties of the 6 wt % Ag doped V2O5 films showed the lowest resistivity and the highest carrier concentration. The photocatalytic activity was investigated by measuring the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye under natural sunlight illumination. The finding results revealed that the decoloration of RhB dye was found to be above 91% within 120 min for 6 wt % Ag doped V2O5 compared to pure V2O5.