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Titania thin film system containing noble metallic nanoparticles such as Au, Ag, and Cu have been prepared by utilizing radio frequency reactive magnetron cosputtering method. The structural and morphological properties of the thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Surface chemical composition of the films was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Optical properties of the TiO2 annealed films containing Au, Ag, and Cu metallic nanoparticles were investigated by UV−visible spectrophotometry showing surface plasmon resonance of the metals. The photocatalytic activity of all synthesized samples annealed at 600 °C in an Ar + H2(80 + 20%) environment was evaluated by measuring the rate of photodegradation reaction of methylene blue (MB) under similar conditions in the presence of UV and visible light irradiation. The Au:TiO2 and Cu:TiO2 thin film systems significantly enhanced photodecomposition of MB resulting in 80 and 90% of its initial concentration after 200 min photoirradiation, respectively. The increase in the surface roughness measured by AFM observation and the presence of the Ti3+ oxygen vacancy in the photoirradiated thin films were found responsible for the enhancement of the MB photodegradation reaction. The photoenhancement of the studied was determined in the following order: Cu:TiO2 > Au:TiO2 > Ag:TiO2 > TiO2.
Sangpour et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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