Physical And Photocatalytic Properties Of Nd Codoped (Ag, Cu)Tio(2)Thin Films

Transparent co-doped TiO(2)thin films have been fabricated by sol-gel dip-coating. The doping is achieved using low concentrations of neodymium (Nd), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu). A significant effect of doping is noticed on the morphology and optical properties of thin films. XRD analysis confirms the formation of a pure anatase phase with a deterioration of the crystallinity upon doping. The co-doped TiO(2)thin films present larger crystallite size compared to other films. The surface roughness revealed by AFM increases from 0.9 nm for pure TiO(2)up to 5 nm for doped thin films. UV-vis spectroscopy shows that the bandgap energy slightly decreased for co-doped Ag-Nd/TiO(2)and Cu-Nd/TiO2. Photocatalytic degradation of MB significantly decreases upon doping. A mechanism based on combined effects of doping, annealing and nature of substrate is proposed to explain the photodegradation behaviour.