Effects of the co-addition of Zn2+ and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate on photocatalytic activity and wetting performance of anatase TiO2 nanoparticle films

In this paper, doped and undoped anatase TiO2 nanoparticle films on indium tin oxide glasses have been fabricated by spin coating sols containing Zn2+ or Zn2+ and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (DBS), respectively. The effects of the co-addition of Zn2+ and DBS on the photocatalysis performance and wetting properties of the resulting TiO2 nanoparticle films were investigated. The results showed that the addition of Zn2+ improved both the photocatalytic activity and the hydrophilicity, which was attributed to surface oxygen vacancies. The co-addition of Zn2+ and DBS resulted in an important increase of the surface roughness, resulting in films showing a superhydrophilic behavior. However, the photocatalytic activity was slightly decreased by co-adding Zn2+ and DBS. The DBS addition resulted in changes in the surface microstructure of the TiO2 films, changing the photocatalytic activity and wetting performance.