Hydrophilicity of titanium oxide coatings with the addition of silica

This work investigated hydrophilicity between titanium oxide coatings with and without addition of silica. A sol of titania and silica was prepared for sol–gel coating. The sol of titanium oxide is aqueous, and the mixed sol is transparent with a pH value of 8.0. Coating was prepared by spraying mixed sol over a heated substrate. The titanium oxide sol was prepared by using an inorganic titanium salt. A silica sol was then added to titanium oxide sol obtain the mixed sol. Thickness of the coatings were between 20 and 80 nm. The sols were characterized by IR spectroscopy. AFM was used to investigate the coating surface structure and roughness. The crystalline size of coating surface for the mixed oxides was little greater than for the pure titanium oxide. The crystalline phase was investigated using X-ray diffraction. The hydrophilicity of coatings was studied with UV and sunlight exposure and by measurement of contact angle change of droplets of water. Through the investigation of change of contact angle and water droplets on the surface after UV exposure and sunlight radiation, it can be concluded that hydrophilicity of mixed coatings with low temperature heat-treatment of titanium oxide and silica are much better than a pure titanium oxide coating. This effect makes for an improved self-cleaning coating.