Low temperature deposition of TiO 2 thin films on polyvinyl alcohol fibers with photocatalytical and antibacterial activities

Abstract

Fine particles of photoactive anatase-type TiO 2 coated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers (TiO 2/PVA) were prepared successfully via a simple dip-coating method. Tetrabutyl orthotitanate (TBOT) was hydrolyzed in presence of hydrolysis control agent tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBA)OH and the TiO 2 fine particles were crystallized under microwave (MW) irradiation. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) analyses indicated that the fine particles obtained with MW irradiation have much higher crystallinity with a single phase anatase compared with the non-MW-treated solution. The continuous layers of titania were found on PVA fibers by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The fibers with anatase coatings showed high photocatalytic property on the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) and high antibacterial activity.