XU Jingbo, WU Yin, ZHANG Siyuan, LIU Fengyuan, CHEN Chaojun, CHEN Yuxiang
(Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, China)

Abstract: In this paper, TiO₂ films doped with rare earth elements La, Eu and Pr were prepared by sol-gel method. The doping amount was 1 mol%, and the heat treatment temperatures were 500 °C, 700 °C, and 1000 °C, respectively. The absorbance curve of the sample was measured by spectrophotometer, and the influence of rare earth doping and temperature on visible light absorption was analyzed. The structure and morphology of TiO₂ films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that the doping of rare earth elements Pr, Eu and La can broaden the absorption wavelength range of TiO₂ film, and it is observed that there is no obvious rutile phase formation at high temperature. This indicates that the TiO₂ film prepared by doping rare earth elements has good absorbance in the ultraviolet range and inhibits the transformation of anatase phase to rutile phase at high temperature.

Key words: TiO₂ thin film; rare earth elements; doping; photocatalytic