Photocatalytic performance of Sn-doped TiO2 nanostructured thin films for photocatalytic degradation of malachite green dye under UV and VIS-lights

Sn-doped and undoped nano-TiO₂ particles have been synthesized by hydrotermal process without acid catalyst at 225 °C in 1 h. Nanostructure-TiO₂ based thin films, contain at different solid ratio of TiO₂ in coating, have been prepared on glass surfaces by spin-coating technique. The structure, surface morphology and optical properties of the thin films and the particles have been investigated by element analysis and XRD, BET and UV/VIS/NIR techniques. The photocatalytic performance of the films was tested for degradation of malachite green dye in solution under UV and VIS-lights. The results showed that the hydrothermally synthesized nano-TiO₂ particles are fully anatase crystalline form and are easily dispersed in water, the coated surfaces have nearly super-hydrophilic properties and, the doping of transition metal ion efficiently improved the photocatalytic performance of the TiO₂ thin film. The results also proved that malachite green is decomposed catalytically due to the pseudo first-order reaction kinetics.