Thin Solid Films, Vol.283, No.1-2, 188-195, 1996
Photoelectrochemical Properties of TiO2 Coating Films Prepared Using Different Solvents by the Sol-Gel Method
The effects of the solvent used for preparing a coating solution on the photoelectrochemical properties of the sol-gel derived TiO2 film electrodes have been investigated. Three series of TiO2 film electrodes were prepared from three different coating solutions, in which ethanol, ethanol-isopropyl alcohol and ethanol-2-ethoxyethanol were used as a solvent, and Ti (OC3H7i)(4) as a source of TiO2. The photocurrent of each series of TiO2 film electrodes increased with increasing film thickness up to about 1 mu m and became almost invariant beyond that, indicating that a film thickness of about 1 mu m is required for achieving the highest efficiency. The photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 film electrodes was strongly dependent on the heat-treatment conditions as well as on the composition of the starting solutions. The results obtained were mainly explained in terms of the electrical resistance of the TiO2 film electrodes.
Keywords:CELL