The Effect of Calcination Temperature on the Surface Microstructure and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO 2 Thin Films Prepared by Liquid Phase Deposition

TiO2 thin films were prepared on fused quartz by the liquid-phase deposition (LPD) method from a (NH4)2TiF6 aqueous solution upon addition of boric acid (H3BO3) and calcined at various temperatures. The as-prepared films were characterized with thermogravimetry (TG), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV−Visible spectrophotometry (UV−Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence spectra (PL), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by photocatalytic decolorization of methyl orange aqueous solution. It was found that the as-prepared TiO2 thin films contained not only Ti and O elements, but…