HEAT TREATMENT TEMPERATURE INFLUENCE ON THE STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF BROOKITE TIO2 THIN FILM SYNTHESIZED USING GREEN SOL-GEL ROUTE
Abstract
Alcoholic solvents have disadvantages for the environment and the human body. Brookite film was deposited via green sol-gel route (without the use of any alcoholic solvent), in combination with different heat treatment temperatures, in order to study the effect of heat treatment temperature on structural and optical properties. Different heat treatment was studied at 200°C and 300°C. Brookite film formation was evaluated with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectrometer and water contact angle measurement. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the formation of brookite (111) and (023) at 200°C and 300°C with a crystallite size of 47 nm and 58 nm, respectively. FTIR analysis also revealed Ti-O-Ti bonding at 400–800 cm-1. The band gap energy was 3.40 eV (200°C) and 3.37 eV (300°C). The water contact angle was 19.64° at 200 °C and 13.50° at 300°C, respectively. Therefore, via this green sol–gel route, a lower heat treatment temperature of 200°C was more preferable for the formation of single brookite compared to the common TiO2 sol formulation (with solvent) that required a high heat treatment temperature. Brookite was produced with a lower band gap and contact angle that contributed to better photocatalytic activity.
Downloads
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors transfer copyright to the publisher as part of a journal publishing agreement with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after the manuscript is accepted, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).