2 thin films were deposited on glass substrates by sol–gel spin coating technique using titanium (IV) propoxide as a precursor. The spin coated films were annealed at 550oC for 4h. Influence of the precursor concentration on the structural, optical properties, and photocatlyic activity of the TiO2 thin films was also studied. The Grazing Incidence X-ray diffractometer and UV-VIS spectrophotometer were used to determine the structural and optical properties of the TiO2 thin films. The GIXRD results showed the formation of anatase TiO2 phase with crystallite size in the range of 17.6-22.4 nm. The optical transmittance spectra reveals that the film exhibits highly transparent character in the visible region, and band edge shifts towards lower wavelength side with increase in precursor concentration. The optical band gap energy values of the films shift towards the higher energy as a consequence of the precursor concentration. The photodegradation efficiencies typically decrease with an increase in precursor concentration excluding 0.2 M for the degradation of methyl blue (MB) under visible light irradiation.

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Structural, Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Activity of Nanocrystalline TiO2 Thin Films Deposited by Sol–Gel Spin Coating

Durgam Komaraiah*, Eppa Radha**, M. V. Ramana Reddy***, J. Siva Kumar****, R. Sayanna*****
*_** PhD Scholar, Department of Physics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
***_ **** Professor, Department of Physics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
***** Professor (Rtd), Department of Physics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Periodicity:April - June'2019
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jms.7.1.15719

Abstract

Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films were deposited on glass substrates by sol–gel spin coating technique using titanium (IV) propoxide as a precursor. The spin coated films were annealed at 550oC for 4h. Influence of the precursor concentration on the structural, optical properties, and photocatlyic activity of the TiO2 thin films was also studied. The Grazing Incidence X-ray diffractometer and UV-VIS spectrophotometer were used to determine the structural and optical properties of the TiO2 thin films. The GIXRD results showed the formation of anatase TiO2 phase with crystallite size in the range of 17.6-22.4 nm. The optical transmittance spectra reveals that the film exhibits highly transparent character in the visible region, and band edge shifts towards lower wavelength side with increase in precursor concentration. The optical band gap energy values of the films shift towards the higher energy as a consequence of the precursor concentration. The photodegradation efficiencies typically decrease with an increase in precursor concentration excluding 0.2 M for the degradation of methyl blue (MB) under visible light irradiation.

Keywords

 Anatase TiO2 , Thin Films, Sol-Gel, Spin Coating, Band Gap Energy.

How to Cite this Article?

 Komaraiah, D., Radha, E., Reddy, M. V. R., Sivakumar. J and Sayanna, R. (2019). Structural, optical properties and photocatalytic activity ofnanocrystalline TiO2 thin films deposited by sol–gel spin coating. i-manager’s Journal on Material Science , 7(1), 28-36. https://doi.org/10.26634/jms.7.1.15719

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