Sol-gel processing of titanium-containing thin coatings

Abstract

Using tetrabutylorthotitanate as a precursor, titanate coatings with and without modifiers such as SnO2 and Fe2O3 have been successfully obtained. The hydrolysis and polycondensation mechanism is discussed in relation to the sol-gel transition. The gel-formation region was obtained as well as stable-layer formation and phase-separation regions in the Ti(OBun)4-C2H5OH-H2O system. Coatings deposited on glass substrates exhibited a strong tendency to aggregate and with increasing temperature to crystallize in anatase or rutile phases (500 and 1000 °C, respectively). Structural characteristics of the gel products were investigated by SEM, X-ray and electron diffraction measurements, as well as by small-angle X-ray scattering. It was established that after thermal treatment at 500 °C for 10 min, spherical aggregates were formed in the coatings, having an average radius of approximately 5.1 nm.