TiO2 thin film synthesis from complex precursors by CVD, its physical and photocatalytic properties

Photocatalytic TiO2 films on glass and quartz plates were obtained by the chemical vapour deposition using Ti(dpm)(2)(Opr(i))(2) complex compound (CC-CVD method) in a standard vacuum apparatus at 1.2-2.0 x 10(-4) mbar. The substrate temperature was stabilised in the range of 450-600 degreesC. The growth rate varied from several nanometres to several dozen of nanometres per minute. Structural information on TiO2 thin films was obtained from synchrotron radiation experiments. High-resolution grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) experiments were performed at the high-resolution powder diffractometer at the DESY/HASYLAB beamline B2 (Hamburg, Germany). Thin films deposited on either single-crystal Si wafers or on amorphous quartz substrates were analysed. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 thin films was studied using a photocatalytic reactor. The fungicide Fenarimol was chosen as chemical indicator and its degradation kinetics was followed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).