Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin film prepared by low-temperature plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for photocatalytic applications

摘要

A PECVD (Plasma-enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) process operating at 150 degrees C has been implemented to prepare micro-columnar porous TiO2 anatase thin films, performing post-annealing at 300 degrees C for 5 h. Optimized PECVD conditions have enabled us to obtain homogeneous films with thickness equal to 1-2 mu m +/- 0.2 mu m. An anatase seeding interface deposited prior to the PECVD process has enabled us to reduce crystallization time down to 1.5 h. The size of nano-crystals in prepared anatase thin films has been estimated to be 20 nm by applying the Scherrer equation. Besides, the band-gap energy (E-g) of synthesized anatase thin films on quartz was found to be 3.30 eV. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.