Product Code: ICA11_M1310

Formation and Antibacterial Activities of Nanostructured TiO2 Thin Films by Sol-Gel/Laser-Induced Technique
Authors:
Yasir Joya, Corrosion and Protection Centre, School of Materials, The University of Manchester; Manchester Great Britain
Tao Wang, School of Medicine, The University of Manchester; Manchester Great Britain
Zhu Liu, Corrosion and Protection Centre, School of Materials, The University of Manchester; Manchester Great Britain
Presented at ICALEO 2011

A novel sol-gel/laser-induced technique (SGLIT) has been developed to generate nano-structured TiO2-based thin films. The TiO2 precursor loaded with Ce+2, W+6 and Ag+2 ions (Ce-TiO2, W-TiO2 and Ag-TiO2) were separately prepared by sol-gel method and spin-coated, in a thickness of 300 nm, on microscopic glass slides. A pulsed KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of 248 nm and pulse width of 13-20 ns was applied to irradiate on the films to generate a nano-crystalline anatase structure, at various processing parameters, in terms of laser fluence, number of laser pulses and repetition rate. The TiO2 films were also prepared by furnace-sintering technique for comparative studies. The samples prepared by both SGLIT and furnace-sintering were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, XRD, FEG-SEM, TEM, AFM and UV-Vis spectroscopy etc. to investigate the crystallographic structure, phase transformation, surface morphology, film thickness and the optical properties. The films prepared by SGLIT displayed a higher photo-absorption compared to their furnace-sintered counterparts due to the unique surface features with a higher surface area. The laser irradiated films demonstrated remarkable antibacterial activities against E. Coli cells compared to the conventionally prepared films.