3D‐Ordered Mesoporous Chromium‐Doped Titania Thin Films: The Effect of Metal Dopant on the Microstructure, Mesoporous Symmetry, Hydrophobicity, and Surface Properties

Attention to the mesoporous metal doped titania thin films has been increased significantly due to its wide potential applications, especially in photocatalytic activities. Determining the effect of surface property, mesoporous symmetry and metal dopant in mesoporous thin films materials have rarely reported, in particular, there are essential factors determining the performance of these materials. Herein, Cr@mesoporous titania thin films prepared by the sol‐gel approach. The surface properties of the thin films, as well as crystal structure, mesoporous symmetry, hydrophobicity, and surface morphology, were deeply discussed. Power spectral density and bearing analysis were calculated using atomic force microscopy. The results confirm that the thickness of all films was completely uniform without flooding, made by randomly oriented fine grains, and mesoporous structure. The Cr particles act as a porous site eliminator and increased the lattice mismatch in mesoporous titania thin films. The surface roughness, power spectral density, bearing area, and water contact angle of the films were significantly affected by Cr content. As the Cr content is increased, the porosities shrunk together and denser films were obtained. The roughness values display that the presence of Cr increases the homogeneity and the smoothness of the thin film surface with small grain size.