TiO2 films generally undergo contact angle relaxation
in the dark. It has been suggested that carbon contamination and the
loss of surface OH generated by UV may be the major causes. However,
the mechanisms for the long-lasting hydrophilicity have not been fully
understood. Here, we studied contact angle relaxation of amorphous,
mixed-phase, and anatase, and a new mechanism is proposed. After UV
exposure and oxygen plasma treatment, the films’ relaxation
was observed over short-term (1 day) and long-term (>30 days) scales
with XPS analysis using two quantitative parameters: relative amount
and binding energy (B.E.) shifting. One day after plasma treatment,
we observed that the donor–acceptor complex (DAC) and Ti–OH
peaks of anatase shifted toward lower B.E., while the other films
showed no shift or positive B.E. shifting. Interestingly, the relaxation
of the amorphous and mixed-phase TiO2 occurred over time
despite the large number of total OH groups (I
OH/I
bulk > 75%) and DAC (I
DAC/I
bulk > 110%),
and only the anatase film showed superhydrophilicity (∼10°)
for 90 days. Also, the B.E. of all OH peaks increased over time, indicating
that polarizable hydroxyls relaxed in the dark. Although the greater
binding strength of Ti–OH and DAC on the anatase surface maintains
long-lasting hydrophilicity, the loss of polarizable OH causes relaxation
on the less-reactive TiO2 films. Carbon contamination can
also contribute to the relaxation over time. Taken together, we conclude
that the surface energy, polarizable OH, and contaminants are the
major factors affecting relaxation; this study gives a full picture
of the mechanism integrated over some of the previously reported models.