Persistent hydrophilicity for Titanium oxide (TiO2) thin films by Silicon oxide (SiO2) over nanolayers

SiO2 thin layers in thicknesses (1, 5, 10, 18 nm) on TiO2 thin layer in thickness 79 nm deposited by reactive RF sputtering technique. The deposited films were heat treated at temperatures (200, 400, 500, 600°C). The surface properties of thin films by atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface chemical composition by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and self-cleaning effect in bi layers, were studied. In addition, enhanced hydrophilicity property in the films under the effect of annealed temperature and persistence without UV light illumination were evaluated.   Key words: Nanolayers, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), hydrophilicity, annealed temperature.