Abstract
Nanoparticles of TiO2 were successfully prepared from pre-sputtered Ti films using the controlled thermal oxidation. The effect of oxidation temperature on structural, morphological and optical properties in addition to photocatalysis activity of the sputtered films was tested and explained. Analysis of XRD and EDAX elucidated the enhancement in crystallization and oxygen content with the increase of oxidation temperature. SEM depicted the formation of very fine nanoparticles with no specific border on the films oxidized at 550 and 600 degrees C, whilst crystallites with larger size of approximately from 16 to 23 nm have been observed for the film oxidized at 650 degrees C. Both optical transmission and refractive index were increased with increasing the oxidation temperature. A red shift in the absorption edge was obtained for the films oxidized at 650 degrees C compared to that oxidized at 600 degrees C. The photocatalysis tests demonstrated the priority of 600 degrees C nanoparticle films to decompose methyl orange (MO) more than 650 degrees C treated film.