An efficient and new composite titania film photocatalyst was fabricated by sol-gel technique, using precalcined nanopowder titanium dioxide filler mixed with a sol, spin coating, and heat treatment. The structural and photocatalytic properties of these films were characterized using SEM, XRD, and UV/Vis spectroscopies. Problems of film inhomogenity and defects which caused peeling and cracking during calcination because of film shrinkage were overcome by using methylcellulose (MC) as a dispersant. Composite films heat-treated at approximately500∘C have the greatest hardness values. Surface morphology of composite deposits by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the composite films have much rougher surface than films made without MC. Photocatalytic activities of the composites film were evaluated through the degradation of three commercial diazo textile dyes, Light Yellow X6G (C.I. Reactive Yellow 2), Solophenyl red 3BL (C.I. Direct 80), and Tertrodirect light blue R (C.I. Direct blue 71) as a model pollutant.
New composite films (P25SGF-MC-Ag, MPC500SGF-MC-Ag, and ANPSGF-MC-Ag) have been synthesized by a modified sol-gel method using different particle sizes ofTiO2powder and silver addition. NanostructureTiO2/Ag composite thin films were prepared by a sol-gel spin and dip coating technique. while, by introducing methyl cellulose (MC) porous,TiO2/Ag films were obtained after calcining at a temperature of 500°C. The as-preparedTiO2andTiO2/Ag films were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy to reveal the structural and morphological differences. In addition, the photocatalytic properties of these films were investigated by degrading methyl orange (MO) under UV irradiation. After 500°C calcination, the microstructure of MC-TiO2film without Ag addition exhibited a microstructure, while significant sintering effect was noticed with Ag additions and the films exhibited a porous microstructure. Nanostructure anatase-phaseTiO2can be observed with respect to the sharpening of XRD diffraction peaks. The photodegradation of porousTiO2deposited with5×10−4 mol Ag exhibited the best photocatalytic efficiency, where 69% methyl orange can be decomposed after UV exposure for 1 hour.
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