Study of effect annealing temperature on the structure, morphology and photocatalytic activity of Si doped TiO 2 thin films deposited by electron beam evaporation

Abstract

Transparent Si-doped TiO 2 thin films (Si-TiO 2) were deposited on quartz glasses using electron beam evaporation (EBE) and annealed at different temperature in an air atmosphere. The structure and morphology of these films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman microscopy (Raman), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Meanwhile the photocatalytic activity of the films has also been evaluated on the basis of the degradation degree of rhodamine B in aqueous solution. Our experimental results suggest that the annealing temperature impact a strong effect on the structure, morphology and photocatalytic activity of Si-TiO 2 thin films. Furthermore the enhanced thermal stability of Si-TiO 2 films enabled them to elevate the phase transformation temperature of TiO 2 from anatase to rutile and enhanced the photocatalytic efficiency.