Effect of TiO2 thin film thickness and specific surface area by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on photocatalytic activities

TiO2 photocatalyst films having an anatase crystal structure with different thickness were prepared by the low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LPMOCVD) to examine the effect of growth conditions on photocatalytic activity. Film thickness was linearly proportional to the deposition time. Structure of the film was strongly dependent on the deposition time. In early stage of deposition. fine particles deposit on the substrate. As increasing the deposition time, crystal orientation is gradually selected following the Kolmogorov model and c-axis oriented columnar crystals become dominant. The photocatalytic activity strongly depends on the film deposition time (or film thickness) in nonlinear way. The optimum thickness of TiO2 catalyst film grown by LPMOCVD may locate between 3 and 5 mum. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.