Enhancement of the photocatalytic property of TiO2 columnar nanostructured films by changing deposition angle

Isolated and inclined columnar nanostructured TiO2 films were obtained by sputtering titanium with glancing angle deposition method and subsequently annealing in air. Compared with flat film, TiO2 film fabricated with this method has higher porosity; compared with TiO2 powder, it overcomes the obstacles of immobilization and recycling. The TiO2 photocatalysis was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange under UV light. It was indicated that the photocatalytic performance increased with deposition angle, which changed the porosity of the films. The relationship between deposition angle (the angle between the target and substrate surface) and the TiO2 columnar inclination angle (the angle between TiO2 columnar and substrate normal) was discussed.