Formation of Crystalline-Oriented Titania Thin Films on ITO Glass Electrodes by EPD in a Strong Magnetic Field

Abstract

Crystal-oriented and crack-free thin TiO2 films with a good interfacial adhesion on indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates for photoelectrodes were fabricated by the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method in a 12 T strong magnetic field. A binder-free suspension for the EPD was prepared by dispersing TiO2 in the mixture of 2-propanol and 2,4-pentanedione. The electrophoretic mobility and the sedimentation rate were measured at various ratios of the mixed solution. The optimized state of the suspension exhibiting the highest surface charge potential and producing deposits with the highest green density was obtained at the 50:50 mixing ratio. The TiO2 films were characterized by XRD and SEM analyses. The photo-current measurement was also conducted to investigate the relation between the photo-anode characteristics of a dye-sensitized solar cell and the plane orientation of the TiO2 films

Electrophoretic deposition of nanoscale TiO2: technology and applications

“…Finally, Kawakita et al [82][83][84][85] published a series of papers reporting the developmentof titania films by EPD under the influence of a strong magnetic field (12 T). The employment of a strong magnetic field creates specific crystalline orientation enabling the control of the final crystallographic structure of the coatings.…”

“…In this case, a high solid content of fibers (20 wt.%) implies thicknesses higher than 20 m and consequently a higher dye loading, which resulted in a conversion efficiency of around 4%. According to Kawakita et al [82][83][84][85], the dye absorption depends on the surface energy of the titania coatings. Therefore, orientated films prepared by AC-EPD (as detailed in Section 2.4), were proposed as photoanodes for DSSCs and it was reported that the photocurrent of the (0 0 X) plane was the highest while the lowest value was observed for the crystal orientation of the (1 0 1) plane.…”

Titanium Oxide (TiO2) Coatings on NiTi Shape Memory Substrate Using Electrophoretic Deposition Process

“…the mobility of electrons in the electrode decrease and also impurities in the deposition increase [11].…”