Antibacterial, magnetic and dielectric properties of nano-structured V doped TiO2 thin films deposited by dip coating technique

Highlights: • V doped TiO₂ dip coated thin films with V 1–9 at. wt. % were synthesized. • All thin films exhibited ferromagnetism. • The increase in vanadium percentage decreased the band gap of TiO₂ thin films. • Dielectric properties are decreasing with increase in V doping percentage. • V doped TiO₂ has tremendous antibacterial activity. In this paper, vanadium (V) doped TiO₂ thin films with V doping percentage 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 at. wt. % were studied. The magnetic properties were evaluated by hysteresis recorded at room temperature. All thin films exhibited ferromagnetism. The increase in the V doping percentage deteriorated the crystallinity of the films with enhancement in the dislocation density and the residual stress. The SEM micrographs have shown effects of vanadium percentage on the thin film morphology, from scattered grains to agglomerated at higher doping concentrations. The optical analysis showed that increase in vanadium percentage has shown tremendous enhancement of transmittance in the visible region. Urbach equation was used to assess disorder inside the thin films. Dielectric properties are decreasing with increase in V doping percentage. V doped TiO₂ has tremendous antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella. V doped TiO₂ thin films have interesting applications in the optical window for solar cells.