Photocatalytic activity of nanostructured TiO₂ thin films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering method

Transparent and colourless nanostructured titanium dioxide thin films have been fabricated on microscope glass slides by the dc magnetron reactive sputtering method using Ar and O₂ as working gases. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer technologies were used to characterize the films. The stoichiometric TiO₂ thin films with anatase phase were obtained by optimizing the sputtering parameters such as sputtering gas Ar:O₂ ratio, sputtering gas pressure and sputtering power. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was tested on the degradation of Rhodamine B(Rh.B) dye. The relatively better degradation efficiency compared with Rh.B mineralization was obtained in the sample annealed at 500°C.