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The TiO2 thin films doped by Ni uniformly and non-uniformly were prepared on glass substrate from an aqueous solution of ammonium hexa-fluoro titanate and NiF2 by liquid phase deposition technique. The addition of boric acid as an F- scavenger will shift the equilibrium to one side and thereby deposition of the film is progressed. The rate of the reaction and the nature of deposition depend on growing time and temperature. The resultant films were characterized by XRD, EDAX, UV and SEM. The result shows that the deposited films have amorphous background, which becomes crystalline at 500°C. The EDAX data confirms the existence of Ni atoms in TiO2 matrix. XRD analysis reveals the peaks corresponding to Ni but no peak of crystalline NiO was found. The transmittance spectra of Ni uniformly and non-uniformly doped TiO2 thin films show 'blue shift and red shift', respectively. Ni-doped TiO2 thin films can be used as photocatalyst for the photodegradation of methyl orange dye. It was found that, organic dye undergoes degradation efficiently in presence of non-uniformly Ni-doped TiO2 thin films when compared to uniformly doped films and pure TiO2 films under visible light. The photocatalytic activity increases with increase in the concentration of Ni in case of nonuniformly doped thin films but decreases with the concentration when uniformly doped thin films were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transparent, high purity titanium dioxide thin film composed of densely packed nanometer sized grains has been successfully deposited on a glass substrate at 30°C from an aqueous solution of TiO2-HF with the addition of boric acid as a scavenger by liquid phase deposition technique. From X-ray diffraction measurement, the deposited film was found to be amorphous and turns crystalline at 500°C. The deposited film showed excellent adherence to the substrate and was characterized by homogeneous flat surface. TiO2 thin films can be used as a photocatalyst to clean up organohalides, a class of compound in pesticides that pollute the ground water. Photocatalytic degradation experiments show that indanthrene golden orange dye undergoes degradation efficiently in presence of TiO2 thin films by exposing its aqueous solution to ultraviolet light. The suitable surface structure and porosity increases the photocatalytic activity. It was also observed that hemin doped TiO2 thin films break up organohalides at a surprisingly high rate under visible light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]