Surface Morphologies and Durability on Water Contact Angle of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Thin Films

Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticle thin films on the glass slide of 5x20 cm2 as substrate were prepared by sparking method. The sparking system was modified by using titanium wires as an anode of 9 pieces and a cathode of 9 pieces which set the gap between the electrodes of 1 mm and connected a high voltage power supply. The sparking method was controlled a surface temperature of substrate as 26, 100 and 150 OC and a sparking time of 1-5 h in air atmosphere. The as-deposited thin films were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope, measured the water contact angle of 180 days and studied the durability of thin films on glass substrate to the drop water. The result indicated that the optimum condition of the as-deposited thin films was shown at the sparking time of 4 h and surface temperature of 150 OC which shown the homogeneity surface, the hydrophilic properties. The water contact angle increased with increasing the sparking time whereas the increasing surface temperature was found the decreasing of water contact angle. The optimum durability of thin films was used a minimum of a standard deviation (S.D.) at 4.27 which calculated from the water contact angle data from 1-180 days.