Structural and optical properties of electrohydrodynamically atomized TiO2 nanostructured thin films

In this paper, we report an alternate technique for the deposition of nanostructured TiO₂ thin films using the electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) technique using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizer. The required parameters for achieving uniform TiO₂ films using EHDA are also discussed in detail. X-ray diffraction results confirm that the TiO₂ films were oriented in the anatase phase. Scanning electron microscope studies revealed the uniform deposition of the TiO₂. The purity of the films is characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), confirming the presence of Ti–O bonding in the films without any organic residue. The optical properties of the TiO₂ films were measured by UV-visible spectroscopy, which shows that the transparency of the films is nearly 85% in the visible region. The current–voltage (I–V) curve of the TiO₂ thin films shows a nearly linear behavior with 45 mΩ?cm of electrical resistivity. These results suggest that TiO₂ thin films deposited via the EHDA method possess promising applications in optoelectronic devices.