Low-temperature preparation and characterization of iron-ion doped titania thin films.

Iron-ion doped titania thin films with an anatase phase were successfully synthesized in this study using the high-pressure crystallization (HPC) process. The crystallization temperature of Fe(3+)-doped TiO(2) thin films was markedly reduced to be as low as 125 degrees C. The films prepared via the HPC process have a more uniform microstructure and smaller grain sizes than the films prepared via the atmospheric-pressure annealing process. The films prepared via both processes were found to have photocatalytic properties under visible light. The films prepared via the HPC process exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activities in comparison with the films annealed via the conventional process. Increasing the annealing temperature in the HPC process resulted in an improvement in the photocatalytic properties because of an increase in the crystallinity of the prepared films. The HPC process was demonstrated to be a potential method for synthesizing visible-light driven titania thin films with enhanced photocatalytic activities at low temperatures.