Influence of the variation of the experimental conditions when obtaining the TiO₂ antireflective thin film

The formation of thin films based on TiO₂ plays a fundamental role in research involving solar energy (solar cell and solar thermal collectors) and from the part environmental (photocatalysis-artificial photosynthesis as a source of clean energy). In this sense, our work has focused on the experimental details directed towards the method of obtaining, for which as a precursor salt Titanium Oxyacetylacetonate (IV) (Sigma Aldrich with 90 % purity) it has been used dissolved in methyl alcohol (Fisher Chemical with 99.8% purity) in 0.05 M molar concentration. The effect on deposited films was studied by varying airflow (2 L/min - 6 L/min) and substrate temperature (150 °C - 450 °C). For the Optical and structural characterization was used UV-VIS spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. From the analysis of the results was determined the energy band gap with values around 3.5 eV for all films. The Anatase phase with tetragonal structure was find it, refined using the Rietveld method that determined network parameters of a = 3.807617 Å, b = 3.807617 Å, c = 9.547797 Å, the thickness of the films ranged in a range between 70 nm - 150 nm whose values depended on the deposit conditions. The previous evidence allows concluding that this material can be used as an anti-reflective layer to be implemented in solar collectors.