Influence of annealing temperature on structure and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 thin films prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering method

Transparent TiO₂ thin films were successfully prepared on high purity silica substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering method and annealed at different temperatures. The effects of the annealing temperature （300-600 ℃） on crystalline structure, morphology, and photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂ thin films were discussed. The photocatalytic activity of the films was evaluated by photodegradation of methylene blue solution. With increasing annealing temperature, the photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂ thin films gradually increased because of the improvement of crystallization of anatase TiO₂ thin films. At 500 ℃, the TiO₂ thin film shows the highest photocatalytic activity due to the improvement of crystallization of anatase TiO₂ thin films. When the annealing temperature increases to 600 ℃, the photocatalytic activity of thin film decreases owing to the formation of rutile phase and the decrease of surface area.