Superhydrophilic anatase TiO2 film with the micro- and nanometer-scale hierarchical surface structure

Abstract Nanosized anatase TiO 2 film on the ITO glass has been fabricated via spin coat process, with sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate modified TiO 2 nanoparticles, which is synthesized by a sol–hydrothermal method, and also characterized mainly by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results show that the as-prepared anatase TiO 2 film exhibits superhydrophilic characteristic although it is not exposed to ultraviolet irradiation. The high roughness resulting from hierarchical surface structure is responsible for its superhydrophilicity. This work would provide a new route to fabricate newly nanostructured semiconductor films.