Photocatalytic activity of reactively sputtered and directly sputtered titania coatings

It is well known that, depending on deposition conditions, the structure of titania coatings may be amorphous, anatase or rutile, or a mixture of phases, and that the anatase phase is the most promising photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants. The formation of anatase depends on the energy delivered to the growing film, which in turn depends on the operating parameters chosen. In this study, titania coatings have been deposited onto glass substrates by pulsed magnetron sputtering both from metallic targets in reactive mode and directly from oxide powder targets. The as-deposited coatings were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Selected coatings were then annealed at temperatures in the range of 400–700 °C and re-analysed. The photocatalytic activity of the coatings has been investigated through measurements of the degradation of organic dyes, such as methyl orange, under the influence of UV and fluorescent light sources. Further sets of coatings have been produced both from metallic and powder targets in which the titania is doped with tungsten. These coatings have also been analysed and the influence of the dopant element on photocatalytic activity has been investigated. It has been found that, after annealing, both sputtering processes produced photo-active surfaces and that activity increased with increasing tungsten content over the range tested. Furthermore, the activity of these coatings under exposure to fluorescent lamps was some 50–60% of that observed under exposure to UV lamps.