Antibacterial properties of Sb–TiO2 thin films by RF magnetron co-sputtering

The Sb-doped TiO2 thin films were prepared on glass by RF magnetron co-sputtering method. The influence of Sb element and calcination temperature on the films structure was investigated by XRD, XPS, and AFM. The antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli bacteria was studied applying the antibacterial drop-test. The bactericidal activity for the bacteria cells was estimated by relative number of bacteria survived calculated from the number of viable cells which from colonies on the nutrient agar plates. The Sb-doped TiO2 thin films exhibited a high antibacterial activity, which was enhanced with the increase of the temperature of thermal treatment and formation of anatase crystalline structure.