Self-cleaning and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 /SnO2 thin films

Abstract

The study measured the self-cleaning effect in terms of contact angle value and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ and TiO₂/SnO₂ (1, 3 and 5 %mol SnO₂ ) thin films coated on glass substrate. The thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip coating technique and calcinations at the temperature of 600 °C for 2 hours with the heating rate of 10 °C/min. Microstructures of the fabricated thin films were characterized by SEM and XRD techniques. The photocatalytic properties of the thin films were also tested via the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under UV irradiation. Finally, self-cleaning properties of thin films were evaluated by measuring the contact angle of water droplet on the thin films with and without UV irradiation. It was found that thin films of SnO₂ doped with 1 %mol TiO₂ showed the highest of photocatalytic activity and provided the best self-cleaning properties.