Influence of the heating temperature on the properties of nickel doped TiO2 films prepared by sol–gel method

Abstract Formation and properties of nickel doped TiO 2 films prepared by sol–gel method were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The results demonstrate that sizes of TiO 2 crystallites increase with increasing heating temperature. Also, at temperatures above 800  ° C diffusion of nickel onto the surfaces results in increased concentrations of nickel compounds on the surfaces. Similar to pure TiO 2 films the light-induced modification of hydrophilicity is observed also in the case of nickel doped TiO 2 films.