The effects of RF-sputtered TiO2 top layer on pore structure of composite ceramic membranes

Composite ceramic membranes which consist of α-Al2O3 as support layer and γ-Al2O3 as intermediate layer are used as substrate. The technique of RF-sputtering has been used to deposit TiO2 film as top layer on ceramic membranes in order to tailor composite membraneʹs pore size and antibacterial purposes. Scanning electron microscopy observation showed that the pore size of the ceramic membranes decreases with increasing the RF-sputtering power. The thickness of the deposited TiO2 films increased with increasing the RF-sputtering power. It has been found that a dense and uniform TiO2 film can be formed using RF-sputtering system whose thickness can be tuned by varying the RF-sputtering power.