Effect of iron doping on structural and optical properties of TiO₂thin film by sol–gel routed spin coating technique

Abstract

Thin films of iron (Fe)-doped titanium dioxide (Fe:TiO 2 Þ were prepared by sol-gel spin coating technique and further calcined at 450 C. The structural and optical properties of Fe-doped TiO 2 thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and atomic force microscopic (AFM) techniques. The XRD results confirm the nanostructured TiO 2 thin films having crystalline nature with anatase phase. The characterization results show that the calcined thin films having high crystallinity and the effect of iron substitution lead to decreased crystallinity. The SEM investigations of Fe-doped TiO 2 films also gave evidence that the films were continuous spherical shaped particles with a nanometric range of grain size and film was porous in nature. AFM analysis establishes that the uniformity of the TiO 2 thin film with average roughness values. The optical measurements show that the films having high transparency in the visible region and the optical band gap energy of Fe-doped TiO 2 film with iron (Fe) decrease with increase in iron content. These important requirements for the Fe:TiO 2 films are to be used as window layers in solar cells.

Cerium and europium doped TiO2 thin films deposited by a sol-gel dip-coating process: characterization and photocatalytic activity toward dye degradation

“…On the other hand, Eu ions doping has attracted much attention in photocatalytic process due to its higher photocatalytic activity than pure TiO 2 in the degradation of organic pollutants [ 11 ]. Thereby, recent studies have reported the photocatalytic enhancement of RE-doped TiO 2 thin films [ 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. TiO 2 photocatalyst can be used in slurry or immobilized systems [ 20 ].…”

Synthesis, Characterization and Photoelectric Properties of Fe2O3 Incorporated TiO2 Photocatalyst Nanocomposites

“…Fe-doped TiO 2 NPs prepared by the hydrothermal method were applied as an efficient electron mediator for the fabrication of hydrazine chemical sensor using glassy carbon electrode [20] which proves to be a sensitive sensor. The sol-gel routed spin coating technique was employed to synthesize Fe-doped TiO 2 NPs and observed that the optical transmittance is was decreased with increasing Fe dopant concentrations [21]. Here, we chose the sol-gel method to synthesize Fe 2 O 3 -doped TiO 2 NPs in the presence of diethanolamine.…”

ZrO2 incorporated TiO2 based solar reflective nanocomposite coatings on glass to be used as energy saving building components

“…Transparent heat reflecting (THR) coating shows a wide opportunity in this field, specially when they possess high reflectance at the near infrared (IR) radiation and a high transmittance at the visible region which is a great alternative in solving the purpose [9,10]. For this purpose different metal/ metal oxides like SiO 2 [11], ZrO 2 [1,6,9], Al 2 O 3 [1], Cu 2 O [8], MgO [1], Fe [12], Ni [13], ZnO [1,14] are generally used as dopants in TiO 2 matrix for high reflecting material to enhance IR radiation for various applications. In addition, thin film of silver, gold and copper used as the metal in dielectric/metal/dielectric structures are studied as a potential material to reduce surface or inside room temperature by enhancing reflectance at the IR radiation solar spectrum for encourage energy saving building applications [8][9][10].…”