Highly self-cleaning thin films of TiO2-SiO2 co-doped with Ag and F are prepared by the sol-gel method. The asprepared thin films consist of bottom SiO2 and top TiO2 layers which are modified by doping with F, Ag and F-Ag elements. XRD analysis confirms that the prepared thin film is a crystalline anatase phase. UV-vis spectra show that the light absorption of Ag-F-TiO2/SiO2 thin films is tuned in the visible region. The self-cleaning properties of the prepared films are evaluated by a water contact angle measurement under UV light irradiation. The photocatalytic performances of the thin films are studied using methylene blue dye under both UV and visible light irradiation. The Ag-F-TiO2/SiO2 thin films exhibit higher photocatalytic activity under both UV and visible light compared with other samples of pure TiO2, Ag-doped TiO2, and F-doped TiO2 films.

TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel process using titanium tetra isopropoxide as a precursor at room temperature. Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared by photoreduction of AgNO3 on TiO2 under UV light irradiation and calcinated at 400 oC. Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized for their structural and morphological properties by Xray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic properties of the TiO2 and Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were evaluated according to the degree of photocatalytic degradation of gaseous benzene under UV and visible light irradiation. To estimate the rate of photolysis under UV (λ = 365 nm) and visible (λ ≥ 410 nm) light, the residual concentration of benzene was monitored by gas chromatography (GC). Both undoped/doped nanoparticles showed about 80 % of photolysis of benzene under UV light. However, under visible light irradiation Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited a photocatalytic reaction toward the photodegradation of benzene more efficient than that of bare TiO2. The enhanced photocatalytic reaction of Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles is attributed to the decrease in the activation energy and to the existence of Ag in the TiO2 host lattice, which increases the absorption capacity in the visible region by acting as an electron trapper and promotes charge separation of the photoinduced electrons (e−) and holes (h+). The use of Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles preserved the option of an environmentally benign photocatalytic reaction using visible light; These particles can be applicable to environmental cleaning applications.