Preparation and Characterization of TiO2 Thin Film on Glass Substrate for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Transparent titanium dioxide (TiO₂), anatase form, thin films were prepared and deposited on microscopic glass substrate via the sol-gel method and calcined at 500^OC.  The number of coating cycles varied from 6, 8 and 10 to assess the effect on hydrogen gas production. TiO₂ deposit layer produced was characterized with X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-Visible optical fiber spectrophotometer. Hydrogen was produced using the 8^th coating substrate that gave consistent low absorption at wavelengths of 320nm to 350nm.This absorption wavelength range is needed for effective TiO₂ excitation. The effect of hydrogen production rate was analyzed using different ethanol ratio and surface area.