Photo-catalytic And Antibacterial Properties Of M/TiO₂ Thin Films By RF Magnetron Co-sputtering

Nanometer TiO₂ has been studied and utilized widely for its excellentproperties, such as: safety, innocuity, low-cost, no secondary pollution, and the functions of antibiosis and antisepsis. TiO₂ film and TiO₂ composite films could accomplish the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds under the radiation of UV. So they have a variety of application prospects in the field of environmental protection, indoor air cleaning, and self-cleaning coating, and so on..In this paper, the preparation methods of nanometer TiO₂ thin films, M/TiO₂ thin films by R.F. reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of elements, particle shape, diameter and crystal structure were studied by XPS, SEM, XRD and TEM. Photo-catalytic activity of the M/TiO₂ films was researched through photo-degrading the methyl orange solution. The dynamic process was discussed as well. Finally, the antibacterial capability was primarily investigated by antibacterial ring method.The analysis results indicated that the binding energy of doped-Fe in film is higher～0.7 eV than Fe₂O₃, this is attributed to Fe³⁺ ions to substitute for Ti⁴⁺ ions of TiO₂ crystal. Photon energy hv that acceptor electrons receive to reach the conduction is less, so the optical absorption edges of Fe³⁺-TiO₂ thin films are red-shifted and light-generated carrier density is efficacious improve. And Ag on the surface of TiO₂ film is composed of separating Ag particles, it improve the photocatalytic degradation performance of TiO₂ film, and Ag is in a state of separating particles, it be an effective capturer of photo-induced electron and reduce the recombination of photo-generated holes and electrons. The crystal structure was anatase structure. The crystal grain size and the crystal structure would be influenced significantly by processing conditions and annealing temperature.In TiO₂ photocatalysis and antibacterial capability, the mechanism of the photocatalytic oxidation of organic contaminants had been studied. And the effect factors of the photocatalysis activity were investigated, such as the crystal structure, reactive temperature, and particle size. The research indicated that the nano-TiO₂ thin films exhibited high photocatalytic action under high pressure mercury lamp. It also showed some photocatalytic effect under nature light source. Under high-pressure mercury lamp, the rate of methyl orange by Fe/TiO₂ thin film and by Ag/TiO₂ thin film was 99% and 98% , respectively.