TiO₂ Thin Films Self-Assembled with a Partly Fluorinated Surfactant Template

Abstract

New TiO(2) films have been self-assembled on solid substrate by dip-coating using TiCl(4) as the titanium source and the partly fluorinated surfactant F(CF(2))(8)C(2)H(4)(OC(2)H(4))(9)OH as the liquid crystal template. By control over the dip-withdrawal speed, film thicknesses from a minimum of 43 nm were produced with rms roughnesses of 0.5-0.7 nm. The films were characterized by X-ray reflectivity, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, atomic force microscopy, contact angle measurements, and Raman spectroscopy. Their GI-SAXS patterns are characteristic of a 2-D hexagonal structure in which tubular rods of the fluorinated surfactant are packed hexagonally and aligned parallel to the substrate. Reflectivity and contact angle measurements of the as-prepared film indicate that a low-density hydrophilic TiO(2) surface presents to the air.

Contamination-resistant silica antireflective coating with closed ordered mesopores

“…The physical thickness of the coating was obtained by fitting the Kiessig fringes in the XRR curve and measuring with a spectroscopic ellipsometer. 49,50 The results obtained by the two methods were marked as d XRR and d EP respectively as shown in Table 2. A good agreement between d XRR and d EP can be found, showing that the physical thickness is accurate.…”

Highly ordered mesoporous titania with semi crystalline framework templated by large or small nonionic surfactants

“…However, compared to silica materials it is difficult to obtain TiO 2 with stable mesostructure and the main challenge is to preserve the pore ordering upon surfactant removal. Even if most reported studies dealing with ordered mesostructured titania are focused on films, [7][8][9][10][11] some attempts have been made to prepare bulk ordered titania. Ionic surfactants were used initially because their amphiphilic nature provides well-organized micelles around which the titania framework can be assembled by electrostatic interactions.…”

“…20,21 Moreover, we have recently shown that liquid crystals of R F 8 (EO) 9 can be used as a template for the preparation of new TiO 2 films. 10 The films have been self-assembled on a solid substrate by dip-coating using TiCl 4 as the titanium source. Their GI-SAXS patterns are characteristic of a 2-D hexagonal structure, in which tubular rods of the fluorinated surfactant are packed hexagonally and aligned parallel to the substrate.…”

“…Their GI-SAXS patterns are characteristic of a 2-D hexagonal structure, in which tubular rods of the fluorinated surfactant are packed hexagonally and aligned parallel to the substrate. Here, to produce bulk ordered TiO 2 , we have modified the two synthesis procedures based on the use of R F 8 (EO) 9 liquid crystals that we have optimized for the preparation of titania films 10 and for the synthesis of silica mesostructures. 21 Surfactants R F 8 (EO) 9 , P123 and F127 were employed as structure-directing agents, and titanium isopropoxide was used as inorganic precursors.…”

Patterning of periodic high-aspect-ratio nanopores in anatase titanium dioxide from titanium fluoride hydrolysis

“…16,17 In previous examples from our laboratory and others, organic molecules have been used to direct the growth of inorganic materials into functional geometries. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Even high energy ion radiation has been used to texture titania films. 36,37 A patterning technique described by Masuda et al 38 and later improved by Goh et al 39 was used to create a porous structure in titanium dioxide that makes progress towards the ideal geometry.…”