Amorphous Titanium Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Sol-Gel Method at Ultra-low Temperature

Shenzhen Foreign Languages School, Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

Titanium oxide compound is a kind of important material in environmental protection and chemical industry because of its photocatalytic and nontoxic properties. Most reports focus on the preparation and characterization of TiO₂ thin films at temperatures ranging from 350°C to 1000°C. However, there is a dearth of reports in the open literature examining the characterization of titanium oxide thin films annealing at ultra-low temperatures like 200°C. In this study, we used the sol-gel and dip-coated technique to deposit TiO2 thin films on microscope glass substrates and then annealed the films at 200°C for 1h. The thin films prepared were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, FTIR, XPS, and UV-vis. XRD patterns showed that the titanium dioxide formed was amorphous, while FE-SEM images revealed that the thin films produced have irregular crystal boundaries and a number of surface defects due to low crystallization. XPS analysis confirmed the presence of Ti and O with Ti in the Ti4+ oxidation state, verifying the presence formation of stoichiometric TiO₂ films. Finally, the optical analysis showed that the bandgap for titanium oxide films annealed at 200°C is approximately 3.71 eV. The experimental data indicate the probable applications of this material including photocatalysts and UV-resistant glass.