Hydrogen irradiation on TiO2 nano-thin films

Titanium dioxide thin films were coated on soda-lime glass substrates using spray pyrolysis method with a thickness of 152 ± 10 nm. The films were irradiated with hydrogen ions at room temperature at various beam energies and fluences. Optimized incident beam energy and beam fluence were obtained to improve photocatalytic and hydrophilicity properties of TiO2 thin films by narrowing the band gap. Samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy to study the surface morphology and by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy to measure the band gap. The optical band gap of H-doped anatase TiO2 thin films irradiated with hydrogen beam with energies of 2 and 4 keV and a fluence of 1015 ions/cm2 was narrowed from 3.34 eV (before irradiation) to 3.04 and 2.92 eV (after irradiation), respectively. The irradiated sample with energy of 4 keV with a fluence of 1015 ions/cm2 has the best improvement. This is attributed to the contraction of the band gap and to the increase in surface active site. Furthermore, it was observed that photocatalytic and hydrophilicity properties of this sample were improved, as well.