In our previous work [20], very small and uniform TiO2 nanoparticles
(NPs) were successfully prepared using a sparking process.
This novel technique is low cost, rapid and uses non-toxic starting
materials (e.g. Ti wire). Using this sparking process, films can be
deposited directly onto a substrate without the need for a vacuum
system. Moreover, the sparking apparatus is easily portable, which
means that windows/glass walls can be coated in situ. In this work,
the method was modified by using an XY scanning stage to deposit
TiO2 NPs on quartz. The effect of the annealing treatment on surface
morphology, structural, optical, wetting properties and the photocatalytic
activity against methylene blue (MB) of the NP thin films
were examined.