Following thermal evolution of mesoporous TiO2: from the sol to the oxide

PAULA Y. STEINBERG; PAULA BOROVIK; GALO J.A.A. SOLER ILLIA; PAULA C. ANGELOMÉ

JOURNAL OF SOL-GEL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2021

0928-0707

Mesoporous TiO2 thin films have been extensively studied and applied in the construction of awide variety of devices. To this end, it is critical to count with detailed structural informationalong film formation and processing. However, there is still a lack of information about theirchemical identity along thermal treatment, in which a transition from a hybrid mesostructureto a mesoporous matrix occurs. In this work, we present the FTIR characterization of threedifferent mesoporous TiO2 films, templated with Brij 58, Pluronic F127 and Pluronic P123. TheFTIR spectra were followed in situ from the sol deposition, through the thermal treatmentsuntil reaching 400 °C, using a high temperature cell. A detailed analysis taking into account allthe sols components and all the spectral regions in the range 3600 - 650 cm -1 was performed.The obtained results were compared with thermal analysis, coupled with mass spectrometryanalysis of the released species. By this means, all the stages of the processing (solventevaporation, template elimination and precursors condensation) were identified, and we wereable to determine which chemical species are present at every treatment step. The resultspresented here can be useful when choosing processing conditions adapted for the finalapplication of the TiO2 films.