A short literature survey on iron and cobalt ion doped TiO2 thin films and photocatalytic activity of these films against fungi

Highlights: ► Co or Fe doped TiO2 thin films were prepared by sol–gel method. ► We obtained lower Eg values for Fe-doped and Co-TiO2 thin films. ► Doping greatly affected the size and shape of the TiO2 nanoparticles. ► Photocatalytic killing effect of the doped TiO2 thin films on C. albicans and A. niger was significantly higher than undoped TiO2 thin film for short exposure periods. - Abstract: In this study, a short recent literature survey which concentrated on the usage of Fe3+ or Co2+ ion doped TiO2 thin films and suspensions were summarized. Additionally, a sol–gel method was used for preparation of the 2% Co or Fe doped TiO2 thin films. The surface of the prepared materials was characterised using scanning-electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and band gap of the films were calculated from the transmission measurements that were taken over the range of 190 and 1100 nm. The Eg value was 3.40 eV for the pure TiO2, 3.00 eV for the Fe-doped TiO2 film and 3.25 eV for Co-TiO2 thin film. Iron or cobalt doping at lower concentration produce more uniformed particles and doping greatly affected the size and shape of the TiO2 nanoparticles. Photocatalytic killing effect of the 2% Co doped TiO2 thin film on Candida albicans was significantly higher than Fe doped TiO2 thin film for short and long exposure periods. Doped thin films were more effective on Aspergillus niger for short exposure periods.