TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors Shaping the Morphology in Sol-Gel Derived Mesoporous Zinc Titanate Films
T2 - Unveiling the Role of Precursor Competition and Concentration
AU - Li, Yanan
AU - Li, Nian
AU - Harder, Constantin
AU - Yin, Shanshan
AU - Bulut, Yusuf
AU - Vagias, Apostolos
AU - Schneider, Peter M.
AU - Chen, Wei
AU - Roth, Stephan V.
AU - Bandarenka, Aliaksandr S.
AU - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials Interfaces published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
PY - 2024/12/3
Y1 - 2024/12/3
N2 - Zinc titanate films with mesoporous structures have widespread applications ranging from sensors to supercapacitors and bio-devices owing to their photoelectric properties and specific surface area. The present work investigates the morphology of mesoporous zinc titanate films obtained by calcination of hybrid thin films containing polymer templates and precursor mixtures of zinc acetate dihydrate (ZAD) and titanium isopropoxide (TTIP). ZnO and TiO2 films are fabricated for reference. The influences of hydrochloric acid contents (HCl), the ratios of ZAD and TTIP, and the solution concentrations on the film morphologies are studied. The amphiphilic diblock copolymer, polystyrene-block-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PEO), plays the role of a structure directing template, as it self-assembles into micelles in a solvent-acid mixture of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and HCl. Thin films are prepared with spin-coating and subsequent calcination. Adjusting the ratio of TTIP and ZAD leads to the structure evolution from order to disorder in a film. It depends on the hydrolysis and condensation processes of the precursors, providing different time-to-growth processes to control the film morphologies. An increase in solution concentration enhances the surface coverage. As probed with grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, the inner structures are larger than the surface structures seen in scanning electron microscopy.
AB - Zinc titanate films with mesoporous structures have widespread applications ranging from sensors to supercapacitors and bio-devices owing to their photoelectric properties and specific surface area. The present work investigates the morphology of mesoporous zinc titanate films obtained by calcination of hybrid thin films containing polymer templates and precursor mixtures of zinc acetate dihydrate (ZAD) and titanium isopropoxide (TTIP). ZnO and TiO2 films are fabricated for reference. The influences of hydrochloric acid contents (HCl), the ratios of ZAD and TTIP, and the solution concentrations on the film morphologies are studied. The amphiphilic diblock copolymer, polystyrene-block-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PEO), plays the role of a structure directing template, as it self-assembles into micelles in a solvent-acid mixture of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and HCl. Thin films are prepared with spin-coating and subsequent calcination. Adjusting the ratio of TTIP and ZAD leads to the structure evolution from order to disorder in a film. It depends on the hydrolysis and condensation processes of the precursors, providing different time-to-growth processes to control the film morphologies. An increase in solution concentration enhances the surface coverage. As probed with grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, the inner structures are larger than the surface structures seen in scanning electron microscopy.
KW - calcination process
KW - film morphology evolution
KW - mesoporous structure
KW - sol-gel chemistry
KW - zinc titanate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202997412&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/admi.202400215
DO - 10.1002/admi.202400215
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85202997412
SN - 2196-7350
VL - 11
JO - Advanced Materials Interfaces
JF - Advanced Materials Interfaces
IS - 34
M1 - 2400215
ER -