Fabrication of transparent-colorless Nb2O5 nanocrystal layers and their photocatalytic evaluation using organosilane thin films

Photocatalytic Nb2O5 nanocrystal layers were successfully fabricated on silica glass using K4Nb6O17-exfoliated nanosheets. The nanocrystal layer was about 11.5 nm thick and had a high transparency to visible light, while it absorbed UV light with a wavelength of less than 350 nm. Using these layers, the organosilane thin films were photocatalytically decomposed and that the surfaces were converted from hydrophobic to ultrahydrophilic. Furthermore, micropatterned nanocrystal layers were readily fabricated using hydrophobic/hydrophilic templates.