Study on nano-TiO2 film prepared by hydrothermal method in toluene-hydrochloric acid-water system

A new hydrothermal method was introduced to prepare TiO2 films. The films were prepared by using tetrabutyl titanate as precursor, toluene as solvent and hydrochloric acid as the inhibitor via a facile hydrothermal method. XRD, SEM, AFM, and TG-DSC were used to characterize phase structure and morphology of TiO2 thin films. XRD analysis showed that crystal phase of as-prepared films were anatase entirely,and its average size was 9 nm. AFM and SEM analysis indicated that films had nanocrystallines,and it was homogenous,dense and crack- free. Photocatalytic properties of TiO2 film were estimated by degradation of methylene blue. The result shows that the degradation rate of 40mL methylene blue solution with initial concentration 10 mg/L reaches to 52.8 % after irradiated for 120 min under 35W ultraviolet lamp,and as-prepared TiO2 film has better photocatalytic property.