Fabrication of Three-Dimensional Titania Building Blocks on Glass Substrate from Mono-Dispersed Titanium Glycolate Spheres and Their Photocatalystic Properties

Abstract

Mono-dispersed titanium glycolate sphere powders were successfully synthesized through a homogeneous nucleation and growth process. The obtained titanium glycolate sphere powders showed a fine size distribution and shape. On calcination, the titanium glycolate spheres lost chemically bound organic compounds, and changed to anatase (500°C) and rutile (900°C) titania spheres. Titania films fabricated with the synthesized titanium glycolate spheres exhibited marked photocatalytic activity and effective reusability. The fabricated films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses.