Study of the conditions affecting dye adsorption on titania films and of their effect on dye photodegradation rates

Nanocrystalline titania films have been deposited on glass slides by the sol-gel technique in the presence of surfactant, which plays the role of template of the nanostructure. Several different dyes, both anionic and cationic, have been adsorbed on these films from aqueous solutions. Some of these dyes were adsorbed at large quantities some at lower quantities. Some of them were adsorbed in monomeric form and others formed aggregates. Aggregates are easily distinguished by absorption spectrophotometry, since absorption of light is observed at a different wavelength than monomer absorption in a dilute solution. In all cases, aggregation demonstrated a hypsochromic shift, indicating repulsive interactions, which are justified in view of the fact that titania surface is charged and that adsorbed molecules are aligned in parallel. The above titania films are hydroxylated. Therefore, cationic dyes were readily adsorbed. Anionic dyes could be adsorbed only from aqueous solutions brought at low pH. Photodegradation rates of adsorbed dyes were generally fast since these films are efficient photocatalysts. Nevertheless, photodegradation of an adsorbed dye was faster when the quantity of the dye was smaller. When the adsorbed dyes formed aggregates, aggregation had adverse effect on photodegradation rates.