Superhydrophilicity-assisted preparation of transparent and visible light activated N-doped titania film

• Published in: Nanoscale 2010-07, Vol.2 (7), p.1122-1127
• Main Authors: Xu, Qing Chi, Wellia, Diana V, Amal, Rose, Liao, Dai Wei, Loo, Say Chye Joachim, Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated; Catalysis; Deposition; Glass; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Light; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanocomposites; Nanomaterials; Nanostructure; Nitrogen - chemistry; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Thin films; Titanium - chemistry; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/c0nr00105h

A novel and environmental friendly method was developed to prepare transparent, uniform, crack-free and visible light activated nitrogen doped (N-doped) titania thin films without the use of organic Ti precursors and organic solvents. The N-doped titania films were prepared from heating aqueous peroxotitanate thin films deposited uniformly on superhydrophilic uncoated glass substrates. The pure glass substrates were superhydrophilic after being heated at 500 °C for 1 h. Nitrogen concentrations in the titania films were adjusted by changing the amount of ammonia solution. The optimal photocatalytic activity of the N-doped titania films was about 14 times higher than that of a commercial self-cleaning glass under the same visible light illumination. The current reported preparative technique is generally applicable for the preparation of other thin films. A "green" preparation of transparent, crack-free and nitrogen doped TiO 2 thin films by using temporary superhydrophilic pure glass and aqueous peroxotitanate solution is presented.