Self-cleaning and photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ coating films prepared by peroxo titanic acid

Self-cleaning and photocatalytic TiO₂ thin films were prepared by a facile sol-gel method followed by spin coating using peroxo titanic acid as a precursor. The as-prepared thin films were heated at low temperature(110°C) and high temperature (400°C). Thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), Field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), UVVisible spectroscopy and water contact angle measurement. XRD analysis confirms the low crystallinity of thin films prepared at low temperature, while crystalline anatase phase was found the for high temperature thin film. The photocatalytic activity of thin films was studied by the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye solution. Self-cleaning and photocatalytic performance of both low and high temperature thin films were compared.