Investigation of TiO(2) Deposit on SiO(2) Films: Synthesis, Characterization, and Efficiency for the Photocatalytic Discoloration of Methylene Blue in Aqueous Solution

TiO(2)-SiO(2) thin films were created on Corning glass substrates using a simple method. Nine layers of SiO(2) were deposited; later, several layers of TiO(2) were deposited, and their influence was studied. Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron spectroscopy (HRTEM), an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to describe the sample’s shape, size, composition, and optical characteristics. Photocatalysis was realized through an experiment involving the deterioration of methylene blue (MB) solution exposed to UV-Vis radiation. With the increase of TiO(2) layers, the photocatalytic activity (PA) of the thin films showed an increasing trend, and the maximum degradation efficiency of MB by TiO(2)-SiO(2) was 98%, which was significantly higher than that obtained by SiO(2) thin films. It was found that an anatase structure was formed at a calcination temperature of 550 °C; phases of brookite or rutile were not observed. Each nanoparticle’s size was 13–18 nm. Due to photo-excitation occurring in both the SiO(2) and the TiO(2), deep UV light (λ = 232 nm) had to be used as a light source to increase photocatalytic activity.