MORPHOLOGY OF NANOSTRUCTURED TiO2 THIN FILM: SYNTHESIS BY ELECTROSTATIC SPRAY DEPOSITION TECHNIQUE AND ITS PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY

Abstract

Titanium dioxide ( TiO2 ) thin films with different morphologies were synthesized on glass substrate using an electrostatic spray deposition method. Rod, flake and spherical-like nanostructures of TiO2 porous films with anatase phase could easily be obtained by tailoring the precursor solution concentration for atomization. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution was used as a probe to evaluate their photocatalytic activities. The rod-like nanostructured film produced higher photocatalytic activity than other films. The deposition of thin film photocatalyst on the substrate could not only solve the problem of separation and recovery of catalyst particles from the reaction medium, but also provide high photocatalytic activity even at a low catalyst loading of 0.057 g/l.