Synthesis method and substrate influence on TiO2 films doped with low vanadium content

Titania films doped with low amount of vanadium were deposited on different substrates (microscope glass, microscope glass covered with SiO2 barrier layer, and silicon wafer with a thermally grown layer of SiO2) by dip coating from solutions prepared by sol-gel and microwave (MW) assisted sol-gel syntheses. The selected molar composition was 99.95:0.05 which corresponds to 0.03 at% of V. The films were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE). The deposited films thermally treated at 450 degrees C, presented homogeneous and continuous nanostructured surfaces and good adherence to the substrates used. All samples crystallized in anatase phase and have good optical properties. The highest transmission value was obtained for the V-doped TiO2 films (T> 90%) deposited from solutions prepared by microwaves assisted sol-gel method. Based on the obtained results it was concluded that the method of preparation has higher influence on the properties of the resulted films than the substrates used.