Liquid phase deposition (LPD) of TiO2 thin films as photoanodes for cathodic protection of stainless steel

In this paper, the liquid phase deposition (LPD) technique was developed to prepare TiO2 thin films on ITO conducting glass applied to the photogenerated cathodic protection of SUS304 stainless steel (304SS). The results showed that a dense and crack-free anatase TiO2 film with a thickness of 800 nm was prepared from the LPD process at 80 degrees C for 3 h. Moreover, the TiO2 films exhibited a decrease in crystal preferential orientation and an increase in optical band gap energy when heat treated at 300 degrees C and 500 degrees C. In addition, the results of the photoelectrochemical measurements showed that the photopotential of the as-deposited TiO2 film was stabilized at about -200 mV, whereas those of the films subjected to heat treatment at 300 degrees C and 500 degrees C were stabilized at -400 mV and -460 mV, respectively. It was indicated that both the as-deposited and the heat treated LPD-derived TiO2 films exhibited sufficiently negative electrode potential under illumination, which could serve as the photoanodes for effective cathodic protection of 304SS. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.