PHOTOCATALYTIC TiO2 THIN FILMS FABRICATED BY DC REACTIVE MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Abstract

Titanium dioxide thin films that were deposited by unbalanced DC reactive magnetron sputtering on glass substrates have a high crystal structure and large surface area, especially getting the anatase phase at the fairly low temperature substrates T_s = 446K . The films were charaterized by X-ray diffraction, attomic force AFM, UV-vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ thin films were tested with the degradation methylene blue MB under UV light irradiation. The best fabricated photocatalytic TiO₂ thin films were found with such parameters:  gas ratio O₂/Ar = 0,06; sputtering power P_s = 275W (I_p = 0,5 A; V_p = 550V);  target - substrate distance h = 4cm;  pressure p = 13 mtorr; film thickness d = 660 nm and substrate temperature T_s = 485 K. These films also have a reused probability several times without decreasing amount of Methylene Blue (MB) degradation.