Preparation and characterization of peroxo titanic acid solution using TiCl3

The peroxo titanic acid solution was successfully prepared using titanium trichloride as a precursor. The basic properties of the TiO2 film prepared by the solution were investigated in view of phase change, bandgap energy, crystalline size etc. The film displayed amorphous TiO2 at room temperature, anatase above 281degreesC and a mixture of anatase and rutile at 990degreesC. The crystalline size increases with annealing temperatures, while the bandgap energies decrease due to the quantum size effect and the formation of rutile phase which has low bandgap energy. As a result of TG-DTA, it was found that annealing treatment at 990degreesC for 2 h formed a mixture of anatase and rutile through three steps: (1) the removal of physically adsorbed water (2) the decomposition of peroxo group (3) amorphous-anatase or anatase-rutile phase transformation.