Superhydrophilic Cu-doped TiO2 thin film for solar-driven photocatalysis

Nanosized Cu-doped TiO2 film was prepared by the sol–gel spin coating technique. XPS analysis showed that Cu atoms had been successfully doped into TiO2 lattice, which hence modified the surface chemical composition. As a result, the Cu-doped TiO2 thin film possessed a superhydrophilic surface with a water contact angle (WCA) only 5.1° and exhibited excellent anti-fogging behavior. The Cu-doped TiO2 thin film also exhibited a much better photocatalytic activity than the reference TiO2 thin film, as evaluated by the degradation of 10 mg/L methylene blue (MB) solution under simulated solar-driven irradiation.