抄録
Thin films of TiO2 photocatalyst were fabricated starting from a sol-gel method with low temperature thermal processing. Different thermal treatments, including hot water, water-vapor exposure, and sintering, were applied on fabricating the films to evaluate their effects on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films. The TiO2 sample films were prepared using the sol-gel solution coated on glass substrates. After drying, the coated films were carried out by different thermal treatments. The photoatalytic activity of these sample films were demonstrated by a dye degradation test with lighting of UV frequency at 385 nm. A first order kinetic equation was utilized to estimate the effects of these thermal treatments on the photocatalytic activity of the treated films. In addition, the surface images of the films were obtained by SEM photos to illuminate the influences of these thermal treatments on the surface geometry. Results show that the photocatalytic activity and surface geometry can be observed quite differently by these thermal treatments. The water-vapor exposure method can greatly improve the photocatalytic abilities of the TiO2 films, although the adhesion was in ill-condition. On the contrary, hot water and sintering treatments can improve the adhesion of the films on glass substrate. However, the photocatalytic activity is lower under both thermal treatments.
