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Simple “titanium alkoxide–water–solvent” solutions as titania coating solutions containing no peptizing or chelating agents

  • Original Paper: functional coatings, thin films, and membranes (including deposition techniques)
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Abstract

Titanium tetraisopropoxide was hydrolyzed in tetrahydrofuran (THF), 1-butanol, or 2-butanol to prepare coating solutions for titania thin films. The compositions of the starting solutions were so simple, Ti(OC3H7i)4:H2O:solvent = 1:(0.5 or 1.0):25 in mole ratios, that they contained no chelating or peptizing agents. In spite of the absence of chelating or peptizing agents, transparent sols were obtained except for the THF solution of H2O/Ti(OC3H7i)4 = 1.0. All the transparent sols showed high stability in viscosity at least over 1 month. Titania thin films were prepared from the sols by spin- or dip-coating on Si(100) substrates via heat treatment at 700 or 900 °C. The stability of such additive-free sols was examined by comparing the thickness, refractive index, crystalline phase, crystallite size, and microstructure between films that were prepared from sols aged for 1, 5, and 30 days at room temperature. The thickness, refractive index, and crystallite size did not change noticeably with sol aging time. The films prepared from the THF-containing sols were anatase irrespective of the sol-aging time and heat treatment temperature. On the other hand, rutile phase was also observed when the films were prepared from 30-day-aged, 1-butanol-, or 2-butanol-containing sols, followed by firing at 900 °C. The films from the 2-butanol-containing sols also exhibited a change in microstructure at such a long sol aging time. These suggest that the 1-butanol- or 2-butanol-containing sols are unstable during aging while the THF-containing sol is stable as coating solution.

Highlights

  • Simple “titanium alkoxide–water–solvent” solutions were presented as titania coating solutions.

  • The solutions contain neither peptizing nor chelating agents.

  • The solvent was either tetrahydrofuran (THF), 1-butanol or 2-butanol.

  • All the solutions exhibited stability in viscosity.

  • Pot life was the longest for the THF-containing sol in terms of anatase film formation.

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Acknowledgements

TP thanks the Center of Excellence on Petrochemical and Materials Technology, Chulalongkorn University for the scholarship and financial supports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Thapanee Piwluang

  2. Center of Excellence on Petrochemical and Materials Technology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Thapanee Piwluang

  3. Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita, 564-8680, Japan

    Takahiko Hayashido, Yuta Koizumi, Takehito Yamada, Yuki Nishimura & Masumi Kubota

  4. Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Materials and Bioengieering, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita, 564-8680, Japan

    Hiromitsu Kozuka

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  1. Thapanee Piwluang
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  2. Takahiko Hayashido
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  3. Yuta Koizumi
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  7. Hiromitsu Kozuka
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Correspondence to Hiromitsu Kozuka.

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Piwluang, T., Hayashido, T., Koizumi, Y. et al. Simple “titanium alkoxide–water–solvent” solutions as titania coating solutions containing no peptizing or chelating agents. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 92, 57–65 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05088-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05088-y

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