Antibacterial and water purification activities of self-assembled honeycomb structure of aerosol deposited Titania film

A simple and rapid room-temperature aerosol deposition method was used to fabricate TiO₂ films for photokilling/photdegradation applications. TiO₂ particles were accelerated to supersonic speeds and fractured upon impacting a glass substrate to form a functional thin film, a process known as aerosol deposition. After deposition, the films were annealed at various temperatures, and their photokilling/photodegradation performances following ultraviolet (UV) exposure were evaluated by counting the number of surviving bacterial colonies, and by a methylene blue decolorization test. The photocatalytic performances of all TiO₂ films were obtained under weak UV exposure (0.6 mW/cm²). The film density, crystalline phase, and surface roughness (morphology) were measured by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-visible spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The unique, self-assembled honeycomb structure of the aerosol deposited films contributed to the increase in surface area because of extreme roughness, which enhances the photokilling and photodegradation performance. Nonannealed films yielded the best photocatalytic performance due to their small crystalline sizes and large surface areas due to increased surface roughness.