Water effect on the surface morphology of TiO2 thin film modified by polyethylene glycol

Water effect on the surface morphology of TiO2 thin film was investigated by using PEG-6000 as a template to form the porous structure. The porous TiO2 thin films were characterized by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), n&k Analyzer, UV–vis spectrophotometer, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and atomic forced microscopy (AFM) as a function of water content in the preparation of TiO2 thin film. The various water contents result in the TiO2 thin films possessing different surface structures, grain sizes, and thicknesses. The grain sizes were varied with changing the water content, and the thickness increased with increasing water content due to the enhancement of the cross-linking speed. In addition, the cratered surface structure transformed into cracked surface structure upon the water content beyond stoichiometric quantity because the excess water causes the aggregation of polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000). The photocatalysis has been performed by the degradation of methyl blue with corresponding structural characteristics of the TiO2 thin film. The best photocatalytic activity has been obtained when the ratio of water to titanium precursor is equal to 2 referred as TiO2-W2.