Superhydrophilic anatase TiO2 film with the micro- and nanometer-scale hierarchical surface structure

Nanosized anatase TiO2 film on the ITO glass has been fabricated via spin coat process, with sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate modified TiO2 nanoparticles, which is synthesized by a sol-hydrothermal method, and also characterized mainly by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results show that the as-prepared anatase TiO2 film exhibits superhydrophilic characteristic although it is not exposed to ultraviolet irradiation. The high roughness resulting from hierarchical surface structure is responsible for its superhydrophilicity. This work would provide a new route to fabricate newly nanostructured semiconductor films. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.