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Microstructure development of hydrothermally grown TiO 2 thin films with vertically aligned nanorods
Author(s) -
Shim Jong Hyun,
Bae InTae,
Cho Junghyun
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.15110
Subject(s) - nanorod , materials science , crystallinity , scanning electron microscope , chemical engineering , thin film , microstructure , transmission electron microscopy , nanotechnology , nanostructure , hydrothermal circulation , rutile , nanowire , chemical bath deposition , composite material , engineering
TiO 2 (rutile) thin films were deposited via a hydrothermal process by adjusting the amount of ethanol, deposition time, and temperature. Especially, various amounts of ethanol generated different degrees of supersaturation in precursor solution. It allowed us to systematically change the width, lengths, and crystallinity of a vertically aligned 1‐D nanorod structure of TiO 2 films. The oriented attachment, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, was shown to be responsible for their lateral growth of TiO 2 nanorods bundled by numerous well‐oriented nanowires and their vertical growth. TiO 2 nanorod thin films were also characterized via X‐ray diffraction and UV‐Vis‐NIR spectrophotometer to find a correlation between the process conditions and nanostructural evolution. Dye sensitized solar cells were assembled to relate the nanostructures of TiO 2 films with the effectiveness of its role as a photoelectrode.