PNNL

Abstract

Introducing mesoscale pores into spincoated titanium dioxide films, prepared by spincoating different sol-gel precursor solutions on silicon substrates and subsequent annealing at 350 °C, 400 °C or 450 °C, respectively, affects several optical properties of the material. The change in refractive index observed for different mesoporous anatase films directly correlates with changes in pore size, but is also in a more complex manner influenced by the film thickness and the density of pores within the films. Additionally, the band gap of the films is blueshifted by the stress the introduction of pores exerts on the inorganic matrix. The differently sized pores were templated by Pluronic® block copolymers in the solgel solutions and tuned by employing different annealing temperatures for the film preparation. This study focused on elucidating the effect different templating materials (F127 and P123) have on the pore size of the final mesoporous titania film, and on understanding the relation of varying polymer concentration (taking P123 as an example) in the sol-gel solution to the pore concentration and size in the resultant titania film. Titania thin film samples or corresponding titanium dioxide powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, ellipsometery, UV/Vis spectrometry and other techniques to understand the interplay between mesoporosity and optical properties.