Preparation and characterization of nanometer sized TiO₂ thin film sintered at low temperature

The TiO₂ thin film prepared by an improved sol-gel processing and then dip-coating on a glass substrate was sintered at 150°C for 15 min. The grain size, the thickness, the surface property, and the absorbency in UV-vis spectra of the film were characterized by a surface profile and methods of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis spectrophotometry and decomposition of methylene blue. The film is identified as pure anatase, the grain size is around 10-50 nm and the surface of the film is even and compact, the film shows high light absorption in UV-vis spectra and has high photocatalytic decomposition rates of methylene bule.