UV assisted photoelectrocatalytic degradation of reactive red 152 dye using spray deposited TiO₂ thin films

Abstract

TiO₂ thin films have been deposited onto glass and FTO coated glass substrates using spray pyrolysis method. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural, morphological and photoelectrocatalytic properties of TiO₂ thin films are studied. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) study shows that, both short circuit current (I_sc) and open circuit voltage (V_oc) are (I_sc = 0.475 mA and V_oc = 0.395 V) relatively higher at 400 °C substrate temperature. The structure and morphology of TiO₂ thin films are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). XRD study reveals that the films are polycrystalline in nature with tetragonal crystal structure. FE-SEM images show that the substrate surface is well covered with a uniform grain like morphology. Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of reactive red 152 dye in aqueous solutions is studied. The end result shows that the degradation percentage of reactive red 152 using TiO₂ photoelectrode has reached 70% under ultraviolet light illumination after 120 min.