Preparation and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 Films on Silica Glass Substrates by Assembly Technique

Nanostructured TiO₂ coating films on silica glass substrates were prepared by the assembly technique. TiO₂ colloids were synthesized employing the sol‐gel method using TiCl₄ as a precursor. The effect on the surface structures which was caused by the polyethylene glycol (PEG) added to the precursor solution and the photocatalytic activity were studied. The experimental results showed that the cobble‐like TiO₂ coating films were synthesized at 500 °C. On the surface of the samples, TiO₂ films exhibited uniform shape and a narrow size distribution. The result of proper PEG added to the precursor solution led to the decreasing of the size of TiO₂ particles and the increasing of the surface area of the samples. The photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ films with PEG was higher than that of samples without PEG.