Papers by Keyword: Superhydrophilicity

Abstract: This work aims to study the effect of ZnO containing in TiO₂/SiO₂ film on the superhydrophilic property after exposed to different types of light. The metal solutions were prepared by sol-gel technique and the film was deposited on glass slides by dip coating method. The parameter studied was the amount of ZnO in the TiO₂/SiO₂ film. The contents of ZnO were 5-20% weight (increased by 5%). The amount of TiO₂ was constant at 30% weight. The obtained films were analyzed for their roughness. The results indicated that film roughness changed according to the ZnO contents. With 5%ZnO in the thin film, the roughness was 0.726 nm while 20%ZnO obtained the roughness of 2.128 nm. UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used for measuring of transmittance of films. At wavelength of 550 nm, the transmittances of each film were greater than 90%. Band gap energy of each film was calculated from the transmittance data. It was found that the average band gap energy of the films was 2.47 eV. Then, the films contained various amount of ZnO were grouped into 2 sets. The first set was exposed to visible light while the other set was exposed to UV. The duration of exposure was 5 hr. Both sets of films after exposed to any light were kept in a black box controlled relative humidity of 85%. Each film was measured contact angle every day. It was found that the 30%TiO₂/5%Zn/SiO₂ film exposed to visible light showed the best superhydrophilic property. The contact angle was about 0-5° within 3 days. This may due to the reduction of band gap energy in the presence of ZnO in TiO₂/SiO₂ films to 2.41 eV and the roughness of the film.

Abstract: TiO2 thin film was prepared on soda lime glass by hydrolysis of Ti(OC4H9)4 in alcoholic solutions by sol-gel method combined with spin-coating and calcination different temperatures. Prepared samples were characterized by XRD, FESEM, and measurement of contact angles and transmittance. XRD identification reveals that the films are composed of anatase TiO2 when the annealing temperature was set at 450~550 oC. SiO2 layer was coated on the surface of the glass firstly to barrier the diffusing of sodium ions from the substrate. Light-induced superhydrophilicity of the TiO2 thin film has been investigated. To increase the illumination light intensity will decrease the water contact angle. The superhydrophilicity of the TiO2 thin film will disappear more slowly in the dark than that in the field of ultrasound.

Abstract: Transparent TiO2, WO3-TiO2, and MoO3-TiO2 films were prepared by spin-coating each colloidal suspension. The monolayer coverage of WO3 on the surface of TiO2 greatly increased the photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of gaseous 2-propanol, whereas the addition of MoO3 considerably decreased the photocatalytic reaction of TiO2. For the estimation of superhydrophilicity, the change of contact angles between the water drop and the film surface was measured as a function of UV-irradiation time. The measured contact angle of WO3-TiO2 film was considerably lower than that of TiO2 before the UV-irradiation, and it decreased to the minimum value about 4 times faster than that of pure TiO2 films with the irradiation of UV light. On the other hand, MoO3-TiO2 films showed a low contact angle at initial point, but their contact angle was very slowly decreased under the UV light. The initial low contact angles suggest the high hydrophilic character of WO3-TiO2 and MoO3-TiO2 films with high Lewis surface acidities. The observed trend suggests that the superhydrophilicity is closely related to the photocatalytic activity.