Study of optical transmittance of photocatalytic titanium dioxide films deposited by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering

Abstract

The optical transmittance of titanium oxide (TiO2 ) films in the ultraviolet-visible region were studied in this work. Such films have possible application in photocatalysis at room temperature. Among many candidates for photocatalysts, TiO2 is practically the only material suitable for industrial use at present. This is because TiO2 has the most efficient photoacatalysis, the highest stability and the lowest cost. Photochemical reactions include the photoinduced redox reactions of adsorbed substances, or the photoinduced hydrophilic conversion of TiO2 itself. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was chosen as the substrate because of its flexibility, high transmission in visible light and low cost. Glass blades were used as substrates for TiO2 films for analysis by optical transmittance spectroscopy. The experimental results show that the TiO2 films deposited on glass were associated with the anatase phase with a [0 0 4] preferred orientation. Ultraviolet near infrared spectroscopy revealed the high transmittance of the films in visible light and high absorption in the ultra-violet region under most deposition conditions.