The self-cleaning and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 doped with SnO2 thin films preparation by sol-gel method

In this study, TiO2 doped with SnO2 thin films were preparaed by the sol-gel method. The thin films were deposited onto glass substrate and calcinations at the temperature of 700 degrees C for 2 h with the heating rate of 10 degrees C/min. Doping concentrations were varied between 0 to 5 %mol. Microstructures of the fabricated thin films were characterized by SEM and XRD techniques. The photocatalytic properties of the thin films were also tested via the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under fluorescent irradiation. Finally, self-cleaning properties of thin films were evaluated by measuring the contact angle of water droplet on the thin films with and without fluorescent irradiation. The result showed that TiO2 doped with 1 mol% of SnO2 thin films has highest photocatalytic and self-cleaning properties under fluorescent irradiation. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.