Preparation and characterization of TiO2 thin films: A study on photocatalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B

TiO₂ thin films were synthesized by using DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique and their use in the photocatalytic degradation of a model compound - Rhodamine B by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation was studied. In this investigation, the effect of post deposition annealing on structural, morphological, optical and photocatalytic behaviour of TiO₂ films was examined. Spectroscopic techniques like XRD, Raman, XPS, Optical transmittance and FTIR were used to characterize thin films. The surface morphology of the thin films was observed by AFM analysis. The variation in photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ thin films with annealing temperature as varying parameter was examined by optical absorption studies. The photocatalytic activity of the thin films was found to increase with annealing which can be attributed to the growth of anatase phase in the thin film upon annealing.