Abstract
Successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method was adopted in synthesizing titanium dioxide nanoparticles at various temperatures so as to investigate their morphological, structural, elemental, optical, chemical bond and photoluminescence properties. The as-prepared nanoparticles were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffractometer (SAED), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), UV-Visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), photoluminescence (PL) spectra and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Nanospherical balls revealing anatase and rutile crystal structures at (101) and (110) planes respectively were observed. Agglomerations of chain-like small particles manifested in Debye-Scherrer’s rings were evident from the TEM and SAED patterns. EDX spectra confirmed the deposition of the major elements: Ti and O. High transmittance of about 80% with a band gap energy range of 3.41-3.60 eV was obtained from the optical properties. Emission peaks arising from the PL spectra gave information on the charge transport and recombination rates occurring at the TiO2 nanoparticles while FTIR studies revealed the chemical vibrational bonds of the deposited TiO2 NPs. The obtained results show the deposited nanoparticles are suitable for solar cell applications.