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Thermal techniques as a tool for the direction of the preparation of photocatalytically efficient titania thin films and powders

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Abstract

Photocatalytically active titania thin films and powders were prepared via sol–gel route from TiCl4 precursor. Organic polymer hydroxypropyl cellulose was added into sol in order to increase active surface area. Thin films were deposited onto substrates using dip-coating technique. Thin films and xerogels were thermally treated in a muffle furnace to a different extent. Temperature of heat treatment was determined using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, while X-ray diffraction was used to identify the formation of the anatase phase, eventual presence of other crystalline formations and the average particle size. The shape and size of the pores of the selected thin films were analyzed using SEM, while specific surface area of selected thermally treated xerogels was determined using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis. Measurements of photocatalytic efficiency of thin films and powders were performed by FT-IR spectroscopy; for thin films on the basis of diminishing C–H stretching vibrations of model fatty compound methyl stearate during irradiation with UVA light, while in the case of powders the oxidation of isopropanol into acetone was the model photocatalytic reaction. Obtained results confirm that different factors, such as particle size, porosity, thickness of thin film, the presence and type of crystalline titania modification have a substantial effect on photocatalytic efficiency of prepared titania materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding Nos. P1-0134 and P2-0273). The authors are grateful to Dr. Nejc Rozman for BET measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Petra Horvat, Urška Lavrenčič Štangar & Romana Cerc Korošec

  2. Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Dimičeva 12, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Petra Horvat & Andrijana Sever Škapin

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  1. Petra Horvat
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Correspondence to Romana Cerc Korošec.

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Horvat, P., Sever Škapin, A., Lavrenčič Štangar, U. et al. Thermal techniques as a tool for the direction of the preparation of photocatalytically efficient titania thin films and powders. J Therm Anal Calorim 146, 1121–1131 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10099-x

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