Deposition of silver on titania films by electron beam irradiation

The deposition of silver on titania films prepared with sol–gel method was performed by electron beam irradiation of silver nitrate solutions. The high efficient Ag/TiO2 films were formed and exhibited enhanced photo-catalytic functions in degradation of methyl orange in aqueous solutions under UV illumination. Metallic Ag nano-clusters were confirmed by XPS, XRD and TEM. The relationship between the silver nitrate concentrations and the photo-catalytic efficiencies of the films was investigated. The optimum concentration of silver nitrate solution was found to be 5 × 10−4 M.