Spectroscopic and electrical properties of SiO2 films prepared by simple and cost effective sol-gel process

Amorphous SiO2 thin films were prepared on glass and silicon substrates by cost effective sol-gel method. Tetra ethyl ortho silicate (TEOS) was used as the precursor material, ethanol as solvent and concentrated HCl as a catalyst. The films were characterized at different annealing temperatures. The optical transmittance was slightly increased with increase of annealing temperature. The refractive index was found to be 1.484 at 550 nm. The formation of SiO2 film was analyzed from FT-IR spectra. The MOS capacitors were designed using silicon (100) substrates. The current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V) and dissipation-voltage (D-V) measurements were taken for all the annealed films deposited on Si (100). The variation of current density, resistivity and dielectric constant of SiO2 films with different annealing temperatures was investigated and discussed for its usage in applications like MOS capacitor. The results revealed the decrease of dielectric constant and increase of resistivity of SiO2 films with increasing annealing temperature.     

TiO_2/SiO_2纳米薄膜的光催化活性和亲水性

通过 sol-gel工艺在钠钙玻璃表面制备了均匀透明的 TiO2/SiO2复合纳米薄膜 .实验结果表明 : 当 SiO2添加量较高时 , TiO2/SiO2复合纳米薄膜的光催化活性明显降低 ;当 SiO2添加量较低时 ,TiO2/SiO2复合薄膜的光催化活性无明显变化 .在 TiO2薄膜中添加 SiO2,可以抑制薄膜中 TiO2晶粒的长大 ,同时薄膜表面的羟基含量增加 , 水在复合薄膜表面的润湿角下降 , 亲水能力增强 .当 SiO2含量为 10％－ 20％（摩尔分数）时获得了润湿角为 0°的超亲水性薄膜 .     

Oxygen-aided synthesis of polycrystalline graphene on silicon dioxide substrates

We report the metal-catalyst-free synthesis of high-quality polycrystalline graphene on dielectric substrates [silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) or quartz] using an oxygen-aided chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The growth was carried out using a CVD system at atmospheric pressure. After high-temperature activation of the growth substrates in air, high-quality polycrystalline graphene is subsequently grown on SiO(2) by utilizing the oxygen-based nucleation sites. The growth mechanism is analogous to that of growth for single-walled carbon nanotubes. Graphene-modified SiO(2) substrates can be directly used in transparent conducting films and field-effect devices. The carrier mobilities are about 531 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) in air and 472 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) in N(2), which are close to that of metal-catalyzed polycrystalline graphene. The method avoids the need for either a metal catalyst or a complicated and skilled postgrowth transfer process and is compatible with current silicon processing techniques.     

TiO2/SiO2纳米薄膜的光催化活性和亲水性

通过sol gel工艺在钠钙玻璃表面制备了均匀透明的TiO2/SiO2复合纳米薄膜.实验结 果表明: 当SiO2添加量较高时, TiO2/SiO2复合纳米薄膜的光催化活性明显降低;当SiO2添加 量较低时,TiO2/SiO2复合薄膜的光催化活性无明显变化.在TiO2薄膜中添加SiO2,可以抑制薄 膜中TiO2晶粒的长大,同时薄膜表面的羟基含量增加, 水在复合薄膜表面的润湿角下降, 亲 水能力增强.当SiO2含量为10％－20％（摩尔分数）时获得了润湿角为0°的超亲水性薄膜.     

Double-layered TiO2-SiO2 nanostructured films with self-cleaning and antireflective properties

Dual function of self-cleaning and antireflection can be created in double-layered TiO2-SiO2 nanostructured films. The film were prepared by (1) layer-by-layer deposition of multilayered SiO2 nanoparticles with polydiallyldimethylammonium (PDDA) cations, (2) layer-by-layer deposition of multilayered titanate nanosheets with polications on PDDA/SiO2 multilayer films, and (3) burning out the polymer and converting titanate nanosheets into TiO2 by hearing at 500 degrees C. The as-prepared films, consisting of a porous SiO2 bottom layer and a dense TiO2 top layer, improved the transmittance of glass or quartz substrates, as demonstrated by transmission spectra collected at normal incidence. The photocatalytic properties of the films were studied by the change of the water contact angle together with the decay of the IR absorption of the hydrocarbon chain of octadecylphosphonic-acid-modified films under 2.6 mW cm-2 UV illumination. Both the antireflective and the photocatalytic properties of the films were dependent on the number of PDDA/nanosheet bilayers deposited. however, excellent surface wettability of the films for water was obtained, independent of the preparation conditions. The experimental findings are discussed in terms of the special structure of the double-layered nanostructured film.     

耐环境性SiO2/SiO2-TiO2 增透膜的设计与制备

根据膜层设计理论设计出以K9玻璃为基体的耐环境性的双层增透膜, 这种增透膜在特定波长处具有超高的透过率. 以盐酸为催化剂, 分别以正硅酸乙酯和钛酸丁酯为前驱体制备了SiO2和TiO2溶胶, 将SiO2和TiO2溶胶按一定比例混合得到SiO2-TiO2复合溶胶. 通过改变复合溶胶中SiO2的含量调节复合膜的折射率, 通过改变提拉速度控制薄膜的厚度. 实验结果表明, 双层增透膜在550 nm处的透过率达到99.9%. 增透膜经较强机械摩擦后峰值透过率基本保持不变, 表明该增透膜具有优良的耐摩擦性. 进一步采用六甲基二硅氮烷对增透膜表面进行修饰, 修饰后增透膜的接触角增大至98.3°, 增透膜的疏水性及环境稳定性得到较大提高.     

Synthesis of ordered macroporous SiO2 in supercritical CO2 using 3D-latex array templates

Ordered macroporous SiO(2) membranes were produced by the decomposition of silicon alkoxides in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) using 3D-latex arrays as templates.     

Fe3+-TiO2/SiO2薄膜催化剂的结构对其光催化性能影响

以硅胶为载体,采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了掺杂不同量Fe3+的TiO2光催化剂(Fe3+-TiO2/SiO2),以氙灯为光源,罗丹明B为目标降解物,对其光催化活性进行了研究.结果表明,Fe3+-TiO2/SiO2比TiO2纳米粉有更好的催化活性,Fe3+的最佳掺入量为0.03％.罗丹明B在粉体和膜催化剂的作用下遵循不同的光催化反应机理.根据XRD,SEM,Raman,XPS和FTIR的表征结果可认为,TiO2在SIO2表面薄膜化和Ti-O-Si键的形成是催化活性提高和降解机理不同的主要原因.     

Electrostatic field and partial Fermi level pinning at the pentacene-SiO(2) interface

Monolayer islands of pentacene deposited on silicon substrates with thermally grown oxides were studied by electric force microscopy (EFM) and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) after prior 10 min exposure to atmospheric ambient. On 25-nm-thick oxides, the pentacene islands are 0.5 V higher in electrostatic potential than the silicon dioxide background because of intrinsic contact potential differences. On 2-nm-thin oxides, tunneling across the oxides allows Fermi level equilibration with pentacene associated states. The surface potential difference depends on the doping of the underlying Si substrates. The Fermi level movement at the pentacene SiO(2) interface was restricted and estimated to lie between 0.3 and 0.6 eV above the pentacene valence band maximum. It is proposed that hole traps in the pentacene or at the pentacene-oxide interface are responsible for the observations.     

Influence of surfactant and annealing temperature on optical properties of sol–gel derived nano-crystalline TiO2 thin films

Titanium dioxide thin films have been synthesized by sol–gel spin coating technique on glass and silicon substrates with and without surfactant polyethylene glycol (PEG). XRD and SEM results confirm the presence of nano-crystalline (anatase) phase at an annealing temperature of 300 °C. The influence of surfactant and annealing temperature on optical properties of TiO₂ thin films has been studied. Optical constants and film thickness were estimated by Swanepoel's (envelope) method and by ellipsometric measurements in the visible spectral range. The optical transmittance and reflectance were found to decrease with an increase in PEG percentage. Refractive index of the films decreased and film thickness increased with the increase in percentage of surfactant. The refractive index of the un-doped TiO₂ films was estimated at different annealing temperatures and it has increased with the increasing annealing temperature. The optical band gap of pure TiO₂ films was estimated by Tauc's method at different annealing temperature.     

Positive and negative TiO2 micropatterns on organic polymer substrates

Ordered titanium dioxide (TiO2) films have received increasing attention because of their great potential in photocatalysis, energy conversion, and electrooptical techniques. Such films are often fabricated as coatings on various substrates such as silicon or a variety of polymers. Liquid-phase deposition (LPD) of TiO2 films is especially promising for organic substrates due to its very mild reaction conditions. In the present paper, LPD is conducted on a wettability-patterned polypropylene surface to fabricate positive and negative TiO2 micropatterns. A thin layer of ammonium persulfate in an aqueous solution was sandwiched between two biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films, and a photomask was employed to control the irradiation region. Within a short time interval, a high hydrophilicity could be obtained on the irradiation region, and an effective wettability contrast between the irradiated and unirradiated regions could be created to further induce the formation of two types of TiO2 micropatterns. Up until now, most approaches for micropatterning have been based on self-assembled monolayers on surfaces of gold (or other noble metals), silicon, and various polyesters. With the present method, however, there is no longer any limitation in the type of substrate used. Our work demonstrates that an anatase TiO2 film could be selectively deposited on a hydrophilic region, giving rise to a positive pattern with significant bonding strength and good line edge acuity, providing an effective solution toward the microfabrication on various inert polymer substrates. More surprisingly, we find, for the first time, that TiO2 could also be selectively retained on a hydrophobic region to form a negative pattern by simply adjusting the reaction conditions. Further analysis of the mechanism shows that, independent of the deposition conditions, the TiO2 deposition pattern changes gradually, from being initially negative to becoming positive as the deposition time increases. The surface functionality changes (from sulfate to hydroxyl groups) during the deposition, and the resulting difference in the affinity for TiO2 is used to interpret this negative-to-positive pattern change. Such negative patterns refute the conventional opinion that only hydrophilic regions favor the formation of TiO2 films and could be used to fabricate large areas (mm2) of interconnected TiO2 micronetworks. Such networks are difficult to obtain by conventional metallic masks, and the present method is expected to provide new strategies in the fabrication of flexible photomasks and macro/mesoporous TiO2 films. An example is given wherein a patterned photografting of poly(acrylic acid) on the surface of BOPP is achieved by using such a polymer-based photomask. The innovativeness of this method arises from its ability to provide negative patterning, whereas present related approaches have been found only to give positive patterns from an equivalent photomask. Unlike complex photolithography procedures, our irradiation and patterning process does not require the use of positive or negative photoresists, and should thus prove to be a simple, fast, and low-cost method.     

Color-encoded microcarriers based on nano-silicon dioxide film for multiplexed immunoassays

Multiplexed analysis allows researchers to obtain high-density information with minimal assay time, sample volume and cost. Currently, microcarrier or particle-based approaches for multiplexed analysis involve complicated or expensive encoding and decoding processes. In this paper, a novel optical encoding technique based on nano-silicon dioxide film is presented. Microcarriers composed of thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) film and monocrystalline silicon (Si) substrate were fabricated. The nano-silicon dioxide film exhibited unique surface color by low-coherence interference. Hence the colors can be used for encoding at least 100 microcarriers loaded with films of different thickness. We demonstrated that color-encoded microcarriers loaded with antigens could be used for multiplexed immunoassays to detect goat anti-human IgG, goat anti-mouse IgG and goat anti-rabbit IgG, with fluorescent detection as the interrogating approach. This microcarrier-based method also exhibited improved analytical performance compared with a microarray technique. This approach will provide new opportunities for multiplexed target assay development.     

Recent advances in characterization of CaCu3Ti4O12 thin films by spectroscopic ellipsometric metrology

CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) thin films were successfully grown on LaAlO3(100) and Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by a novel MOCVD approach. Epitaxial CCTO(001) thin films have been obtained on LaAlO3(100) substrates, while polycrystalline CCTO films have been grown on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si(100) substrates. Surface morphology and grain size of the different nanostructured deposited films were examined by AFM, and spectroscopic ellipsometry has been used to investigate the electronic part of the dielectric constant (epsilon2). Looking at the epsilon2 curves, it can be seen that by increasing the film structural order, a greater dielectric response has been obtained. The measured dielectric properties accounted for the ratio between grain volumes and grain boundary areas, which is very different in the different structured films.     

TiO2光致亲水性及其在免处理版材中的应用研究

用溶胶-凝胶法制备了SiO₂和TiO₂薄膜,并涂覆于玻璃基片上,研究了TiO₂薄膜在紫外光照射下其超亲水性能的变化与光照时间的关系,分析了SiO₂薄膜对覆于其上的TiO₂薄膜的耐摩擦性能的影响.结果表明:TiO₂薄膜经紫外光照射后,疏水性急剧降低,显示亲水性能,与水的接触角可达到5°以下;当其覆膜于载玻片上后,具有良好的耐摩擦性和耐候性;TiO₂薄膜的超亲水性使其有望成为一种新型的环保可重复利用的印刷版材.     

Nanocrystalline TiO2/ZnO thin films: fabrication and application to dye-sensitized solar cells

Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films composed of densely packed grains were deposited onto indium-doped tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrates at room temperature using a chemical bath deposition technique. A layer-by-layer (LbL) process was utilized to obtain a 1.418-microm-thick TiO2/ZnO structure. The TiO2 surface was super-hydrophilic, but its hydrophilicity decreased considerably after ZnO deposition. Other TiO2/ZnO films were studied to assess their suitability as photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).     

溶胶法制备的二氧化硅与二氧化钛复合薄膜的性能

在室温下, 采用溶胶法在玻璃基板上制备了厚度约为100 nm的均匀、透明的纳米SiO2-TiO2复合薄膜.研究了不同温度处理后薄膜的超亲水性、光催化能力等光致活性.通过XPS对薄膜表面及近表面元素的化学态的研究发现, Ti在表面及近表面不仅以Ti4＋形式存在, 也存在少量Ti3＋.紫外光照射后, 部分Ti4＋ 转变成了Ti3＋. XRD研究表明, 该薄膜中的TiO2主要以锐钛矿形式存在, 而且其晶粒大小为14～20 nm.用AFM研究了SiO2-TiO2薄膜的表面形貌及不同的温度处理对TiO2颗粒大小的影响.     

TiO2纳米薄膜的溶胶-凝胶工艺制备和表征

通过ｓｏｌ－ｇｅｌ工艺在普通钠钙玻璃表面制备了均匀透明的锐钛矿型ＴｉＯ２纳米薄膜,ＴｉＯ２薄膜的Ｘ射线衍射分析表明,当薄膜的厚度小于０．４６μ时,薄中未出现锐钛矿的衍射峰,随着镀膜次数或薄膜厚度的增加,薄膜中ＴｉＯ２纳米微晶的平均晶粒大小逐渐增大,ＴｉＯ２薄膜的透光率略有减小,其吸收阈值发生了明显的红移,ＸＰＳ实验结果表明：薄膜中除含有Ｔｉ、Ｏ元素外,还有一定量来自有机前驱物中未完全燃烧的碳和少量     

超亲水TiO2和TiO2-SiO2表面的动态润湿性

1997年, Fujishima研究组[1]发现TiO2表面经UV光照射能产生较强的亲水性, 同时具有较高的亲油性, 即经UV光照射后的TiO2表面具有超双亲的性质. 这种防雾和自清洁性在工业上应用广泛, 已引起了人们的极大兴趣[2～5]. 进一步的研究发现, 超亲水的TiO2表面在暗处放置会变为疏水表面. 对于这个问题, 除了可以通过UV光照[6]、氩离子或电子束溅射[6]和高温热处理[5]等恢复其超亲水性外, 还可以通过添加摩尔分数为10%～30%的SiO2有效地降低TiO2表面的接触角, 提高UV光诱导的超亲水表面在暗处的稳定性能[3]. 另外, 诱导TiO2的亲水性需要较强的UV线强度(如太阳光), 使它在室内应用受到限制. 为了在室内实现TiO2的自清洁功能, Watanabe等[4]发现在TiO2中添加WO3可使TiO2在室内的照明光下也能实现亲水性转变. 以上这些研究成果为TiO2在工业和生活上的实际应用提供了重要的科学依据. 然而, TiO2的防雾和自清洁功能的实现同时也受其动力学性质的制约.     

Electron beam irradiation of poly(vinyl methyl ether) films. 2. Temperature-dependent swelling behavior

Temperature-sensitive hydrogel films were synthesized by electron beam irradiation of poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) on silicon (Si/SiO(2)) substrates and gold (Au) coated glass slides. The temperature-dependent swelling behavior of the films in aqueous solution was characterized by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and a combination of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and optical waveguide spectroscopy (OWS). The results of both techniques are compared. The suitability of both techniques for the characterization of the swelling behavior of thin hydrogel films is demonstrated. The volume swelling degree in the swollen state decreases with increasing radiation dose D. This is explained by the fact that the number of formed polymeric radicals, and hence cross-linking density, increases with D. Above the phase-transition temperature, the swelling degrees were independent of D, slightly above 1. The swelling/deswelling process was fully reversible and is mainly directed perpendicular to the substrate surface. The phase-transition temperature was determined to be T(cr) approximately 33 degrees C. However, T(cr) slightly decreases with increasing D and increasing film thickness d.     

TiO2微图纹结构的制作

The representative soft lithographic techniques are used,which are micromolding and microtransfer molding methods to fabricate the micro array patterned titanium dioxide on glass substrates. Firstly titanium dioxide sol was synthesized by sol-gel method using tetrabutyl titanate as the precursor,then the pre-patterned poly（dimethylsiloxane） elastomeric stamp was used to mold the TiO2 sol on glass substrate by micromolding and microtransfer molding methods,micro patterned TiO2 sol was gelled at 70℃ with 0. 5 N pressure applied on the PDMS stamp,further heat treatment of TiO2 gel by annealing at 550℃ for 2 h produced the TiO2 microstructure. The TiO2 microstructure was observed by the optical microscope and the optical micrographs demonstrated the satisfactory yield and fidelity of pattern transfer by micromolding method and microtransfer method. The effect of gel temperature,the pressure applied on the PDMS stamp and the silicone mold on the fidelity and yield of TiO2 microstructure are discussed.