Thermal Treatment of Sol-gel Titania Films Deposited on Stainless Steel for Surface Improvement

Four, eight and twelve layers of TiO2 coatings were prepared by the Sol-Gel method. These layers were deposited into SS 316 substrate using dip coating method. The microstructure and surface morphology of titania coatings acquired through sol- gel method were generally assessed using XRD, SEM and optical microscopy, while the composition of titania coating was characterized by EDS. The results revealed that sol-gel deposition succeed in forming titania coating that crystallized in TiO2 (anatase form). The deposited coatings illustrated drastically different composition as well as microstructure in comparison with as- dried coating from the same sol-gel titania group.