Effect of Heat Treatment on Coloration of Ag Doped TiO2-SiO2 Films
Silver doped titania-silica films were fabricated by two-step route of sol-gel method using Ti(OC4H9)4, Si(OC2H5)4 and AgNO3 as the precursor materials. The films were annealed at temperature from 350°C to 560°C for a period of time ranging from 15min to 90 min. Optical properties of the films were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy and the state of silver in the titania-silica films was investigated by XRD patterns. It was found that the annealing temperature and time have considerably influenced the coloration of the films, and with the increase of annealing temperature the [111] orientation of silver crystal occurred which make the color of silver doped titania-silica films deepened. The coloration stability of the silver doped titania-silica films was also investigated.