Study of effect annealing temperature on the structure, morphology and photocatalytic activity of Si doped TiO 2 thin films deposited by electron beam evaporation

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 257; no. 24; pp. 10715 - 10720
• Main Authors: Lu, Zhongdan, Jiang, Xiaohong, Zhou, Bing, Wu, Xiaodong, Lu, Lude
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.2011
• Subjects: Annealing; Electron beam evaporation; Photocatalytic activity; Si doped TiO 2 thin films; Si doped TiO 2 thin films; Photocatalytic activity; Annealing; Electron beam evaporation
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.07.085

► Si-TiO 2 target has been simply prepared and the corresponding film was deposited on quartz glass substrates by electron beam evaporation. ► It can be demonstrated the annealing temperature had significant effect on the structure, phase transition temperature and surface morphology of Si-TiO 2 thin films. ► The Si-TiO 2 films exhibit better photocatalytic efficiency owing to the reduction of the photo-generated electron and holes recombination rate under illumination. Transparent Si-doped TiO 2 thin films (Si-TiO 2) were deposited on quartz glasses using electron beam evaporation (EBE) and annealed at different temperature in an air atmosphere. The structure and morphology of these films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman microscopy (Raman), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Meanwhile the photocatalytic activity of the films has also been evaluated on the basis of the degradation degree of rhodamine B in aqueous solution. Our experimental results suggest that the annealing temperature impact a strong effect on the structure, morphology and photocatalytic activity of Si-TiO 2 thin films. Furthermore the enhanced thermal stability of Si-TiO 2 films enabled them to elevate the phase transformation temperature of TiO 2 from anatase to rutile and enhanced the photocatalytic efficiency.