Preparation and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 coating

Titanium dioxide thin films have been prepared from a tetrabutyl-orthotitanate solution in methanol as the solvent, by a sol-gel dip coating technique. The thermal properties of the TiO2 gel were analysed by thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). Structural properties of TiO2 thin films due to different heat treatment temperatures were analysed by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that the TiO2 thin films crystallise into the anatase phase at 400 degrees C and that the crystallinity of the anatase phase increased with increasing temperature. The TiO2 thin films crystallize into the anatase-rutile phase at 600 degrees C and into the rutile phase at 800 degrees C. The photocatalytic performance of the TiO2 film was assessed by the degradation of Rhodamine B. The TiO2 thin film exhibited relatively high photocatalytic activity towards degrading Rhodamine B, which provides a potential way to reduce the pressures of worldwide environmental pollution.