Uniform TiO 2 thin films with anatase nanocrystallites synthesized through evaporation-induced assembly

Abstract

Uniform nanocrystalline anatase (nc-TiO 2) thin films have been synthesized in a ternary copolymer-ethanol–water system through evaporation-induced assembly (EIA) method. The EIA method combines sol–gel and organic–inorganic cooperative assembly technique. The resulting materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscope, and ellipsometer measurements. The results showed uniform, spherical, and pure anatase crystallites were present in the calcined sample. Moreover, the prepared nc-TiO 2 thin films are smooth and exhibit crack-free nature. A reasonable formation mechanism of uniform nc-TiO 2 thin films is also presented in this work.