TiO₂ thin film synthesis from complex precursors by CVD, its physical and photocatalytic properties

Abstract

Photocatalytic TiO 2 films on glass and quartz plates were obtained by the chemical vapour deposition using Ti(dpm)2(Opr i ) 2 complex compound (CC‐CVD method) in a standard vacuum apparatus at 1.2–2.0 × 10‐4 mbar. The substrate temperature was stabilised in the range of 450–600 ∘C. The growth rate varied from several nanometres to several dozen of nanometres per minute. Structural information on TiO 2 thin films was obtained from synchrotron radiation experiments. High‐resolution grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction (GIXRD) experiments were performed at the high‐resolution powder diffractometer at the DESY/HASYLAB beamline B2 (Hamburg, Germany). Thin films deposited on either single‐crystal Si wafers or on amorphous quartz substrates were analysed. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO 2 thin films was studied using a photocatalytic reactor. The fungicide Fenarimol was chosen as chemical indicator and its degradation kinetics was followed by High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).