Influence of the heating temperature on the properties of nickel doped TiO2 films prepared by sol-gel method

Formation and properties of nickel doped TiO2 films prepared by sol-gel method were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The results demonstrate that sizes of TiO2 crystallites increase with increasing heating temperature. Also, at temperatures above 800 ° C diffusion of nickel onto the surfaces results in increased concentrations of nickel compounds on the surfaces. Similar to pure TiO2 films the light-induced modification of hydrophilicity is observed also in the case of nickel doped TiO2 films.