Preparation and photocatalytic activity of composite films containing clustered TiO2 particles and mineral tourmaline powders

The novel composite films containing clustered TiO2 particles and fine tourmaline particles on the surface of copper webs were prepared by the sol-gel method. The microstructures of the composite films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the photocatalytic activity of the films was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange, respectively. The results indicate that tourmaline particles can obviously influence the microstructures of TiO2 films and enhance the photocatalytic activity due to their spontaneous permanent polarity and high radiotechnology of far infrared. During preparing the composite films, the clustered TiO2 particles with lots of nano-sized ladder layers can grow on the surface of fine tourmaline particles, the thickness of ladder layer is 10 nm, and the average diameter of nano-sized TiO2 particles is 15 nm.