Effect of Stabilizer on Structural, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of Sol-Gel Dip-Coated TiO2 Films

Thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) were prepared through sol-gel routes and dip-coating technique, employing titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) in 2-propanol as precursor, and three stabilizing agents i.e. diethanolamine (DEA), lactic acid, and citric acid. The optical properties, crystallinity, and morphology of the samples were evaluated using UV-Visible (UV-Vis) Spectrophotometry analysis, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, and Scanning Electron microscope (SEM). Homogeneous crack-free thin films with uniform size were obtained. All the samples showed the formation of anatase phase TiO2 with no impurities. It was found that TiO2 with all samples has excellent photocatalytic performance on methylene blue degradation.