Preparation of TiO2 nanometer thin films with high photocatalytic activity by reverse micellar method

Two kinds of TiO2 nanometer thin films were prepared on stainless steel by the reverse micellar and sol-gel methods, respectively. The calcined TiO2 thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), BET surface area and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photocatalytic decoloration of methyl orange aqueous solution. The results showed that the TiO2 thin films prepared by reverse micellar method (designated as RM-TiO2 films) showed higher photocatalytic activity than those by sol-gel method (designated as SG-TiO2 films). This is attributed to the fact that the former is composed of smaller monodispersed spherical particles with a size of about 15 nm and possesses higher surface areas.