Preparation of TiO₂ Thin Films Using Octadecylamine Langmuir-Blodgett Films and Evaluation of Their Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

A study was conducted to demonstrate that nanometer-thick titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin films could be prepared by the hydrolysis of titanium potassium oxalate using octadecylamine (ODA) Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films as templates. The amount of TiO₂ generated in the LB film was found to be proportional to the number of deposited ODA layers, which enables precise control of the TiO₂ film thickness. After heat treatment of the LB films at 300-600°C, the photocatalytic activities of the resulting TiO₂ films were determined from the decomposition of stearic acid cast films when irradiated with UV light for different time periods. Higher photocatalytic activity was observed in TiO₂ films heat treated at lower temperatures.