Preparation and Characterization of TiO2 Photocatalytic Thin Film Prepared by Sol-Gel Dip Coating

Abstract

Titanium dioxide thin films have been prepared from tetrabutyl-orthotitanate solution and methanol as a solvent by sol-gel dip coating technique. The thermal properties of TiO2 gel were analyzed by thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). Structural properties of TiO2 thin films at different heat treatment temperatures were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Infrared Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the TiO2 thin films crystallize in anatase phase at 400 °C and the crystallinity of anatase phase was improved with increasing temperature. The TiO2 thin films crystallize into the anatase-rutile phase at 600 °C and further into the rutile phase at 800 °C. The photocatalytic performance of TiO2 film was tested for the degradation of 2×10-5 mol/L Rhodamine B. The degradation of Rhodamine B solutions reached 0.9×10-5 mol/L after irradiated for 8 h under UV light. The TiO2 thin film exhibited relatively high photocatalytic activity towards degrading Rhodamine B.