THE INFLUENCE OF ETHANOL ON THE MORPHOLOGY, PHASE AND CRYSTAL SIZE OF THE SOL-GEL DIP COATING TiO2 THIN FILMS
Abstract
The effect of ethanol and its concentration on the characteristic of a sol-gel TiO2 thin film was investigated. Three concentrations (M) of 0 M (without solvent), 3 M and 5 M were prepared by varying ethanol to water ratio in a sol of titanium (IV) isopropoxide as a precursor. A glass slide substrate was dipped into the sol for ten times to produce layers of TiO2 films before finally heated at 500°C for 1-hour. Analysis on the TiO2 surface morphology was obtained using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Phases and crystal size of the TiO2 films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reinforce with Raman Spectroscopy (RS). SEM result showed that surface cracks observed for all deposited TiO2 film. At 5M of ethanol, the cracks produced were more severe causing films delamination. Mixture of anatase, brookite and rutile phases were identified only with TiO2 thin film of 0M of ethanol. The effect of ethanol on crystal size, however, was insignificant due to similar crystallite size (~17.29 nm) obtained at 3 M and 5 M. Hence, the development of TiO2 phases without the use of solvent is emboldening to explore as an attempt toward producing ecological photocatalytic materials via green process.
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