Atomic layer deposition of TiO2 thin films on glass fibers for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Photocatalytic wastewater treatment is expected to become a sustainable way of eliminating toxic chemicals. Due the surface-driven mechanism photocatalysis, surface area catalyst material plays crucial role in efficiency process, which usually achieved by nanoparticles. However, using powder materials introduces new problem: removing out clean water. As an alternative, atomic layer deposition (ALD) can form conformal thin films on high substrates providing immobilization route with photocatalytic activity. Textile are inexpensive and accessible therefore good candidates for substrate materials. Here, we deposit TiO2 fiberglass fabrics investigate Since as-deposited ALD amorphous, they have very limited Upon thermal after deposition, activity achieved. After four hours exposure solar simulator UV lamp, TiO2-coated fibers demonstrated much higher than planar previously described literature. The structure coated were investigated XRD, XPS, UV–Vis, PL analyses.