Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T10:44:09.949Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Laser-assisted spray pyrolysis process for the growth of TiO2 and Fe2O3 nanoparticle coatings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Sarath Witanachchi ,
Gayan Dedigamuwa  and
Pritish Mukherjee
Sarath Witanachchi*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Advanced Materials Science and Technology, Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620
Gayan Dedigamuwa
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Advanced Materials Science and Technology, Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620
Pritish Mukherjee
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Advanced Materials Science and Technology, Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: switanac@cas.usf.edu
Get access

Abstract

We present a laser-assisted spray pyrolysis method to fabricate nanoparticle coatings of metal oxides. In this process, 1.5-μm size droplets of a titanium- or iron-containing organometallic precursor were injected into a vacuum chamber with SF6 carrier gas. The strong absorption of a 3W CO2 laser beam focused onto the injector tip in the presence of SF6 increased the temperature of the gas and the droplets to about 300 °C. Films deposited on heated substrates with and without the CO2 laser heating were studied by atomic force microscopy. The laser heating of the droplets caused the solvent to evaporate before depositing on the substrate, leading to grain sizes that are about a factor of 3 smaller than those deposited without laser heating. By controlling the concentration of the precursor in the solvent, the average particle sizes have been tuned from 80 to 50 nm.

Keywords

CoatingNanostructureSpray pyrolysis
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , March 2007 , pp. 649 - 654
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Rossnagel, S.M.: Thin film deposition with physical vapor deposition and related technologies. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 21, S74 (2003).Google Scholar
2Hara, T. and Toida, H.: Properties of copper layers deposited by electroplating on an agglomerated copper seed layer. Electrochem. Solid-State Lett. 5, C102 (2002).Google Scholar
3Hyun, K.K., Taylor, P.R., and Lee, H.L.: Characterization of La0.8Sr0.2 MnO3 produced by a reactive dc thermal plasma spray system. Plasma Chem. Plasma Proc. 23, 223 (2003).Google Scholar
4Gomez-Daza, O., Garcia, V.M., Nair, M.T.S., and Nair, P.K.: Highly photosensitive CdSe coatings by screen printing and sintering technique. Appl. Phys. Lett. 68, 1987 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Kern, W. and Tracy, B.: Titanium dioxide antireflection coating for silicon solar cells by spray deposition. RCA Rev. 41, 113 (1980).Google Scholar
6Krishnakumar, R., Subramanian, V., Ramprakash, Y., and Luxmanan, A.S.: Thin film preparation by spray pyrolysis for solar cells. Mater. Chem. Phys. 16, 385 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Patil, P.S. and Patil, P.R.: Electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide thin films deposited by solution thermolysis. Tr. J. Phys. 18, 1330 (1994).Google Scholar
8Rios, E., Poillerat, G., Koenig, J.F., Gautier, J.L., and Chartier, P.: Preparation and characterization of thin Co3O4 and MnCo2O4 films prepared on glass/SnO2:F by spray pyrolysis at 150 °C for the oxygen electrode. Thin Solid Films 264, 18 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Okuyama, K., Wuled, L., Tagami, N., Tamaki, S., and Tohge, N.: Preparation of ZnS and CdS fine particles with different particle sizes by a spray-pyrolysis method. J. Mater. Sci. 32, 1229 (1997).Google Scholar
10Omura, K., Valuchamy, P., Tsuji, M., Nishio, T., and Murozono, M.: A pyrosol process to deposit large-area SnO2:F thin films and its use as a transparent conducting substrate for CdTe solar cells. J. Electrochem. Soc. 146, 2113 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Patil, P.S.: Versatility of chemical spray pyrolysis technique. Mater. Chem. Phys. 59, 185 (1999).Google Scholar
12Chamberlin, R.R. and Skarman, J.S.: Fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells by spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) technique. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A Chem. 164, 167 (2004).Google Scholar
13Liu, M., Zhou, M.L., Zhai, L.H., Liu, D.M., Gao, X., and Liu, W.: A newly designed ultrasonic spray pyrolysis device to fabricate YBCO tapes. Physica C 386, 366 (2003).Google Scholar
14Herlin, N., Armand, X., Musset, E., Martinengo, H., Luce, M., and Cauchetier, M.: Nanometric Si-based oxide powders: Synthesis by laser spray pyrolysis and characterization. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 16, 1063 (1996).Google Scholar
15Muller, A., Herlin-Boime, N., Tenegal, F., Armand, X., Berger, F., Flank, A.M., Dez, R., Muller, K., Bill, J., and Aldinger, F.: Comparison of Si/C/N pre-ceramics obtained by laser pyrolysis or furnace thermolysis. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 23, 37 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Lee, B.L., Wang, X., Bhave, R., and Hu, M.: Synthesis of brookite TiO2 nanoparticles by ambient conduction sol process. Mater. Lett. 60, 1179 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Veintemilles-Verdaguer, S., Morales, M.P., and Serna, C.J.: Effect of oxidation conditions on the maghemites produced by laser pyrolysis. Appl. Organometal. Chem. 15, 365 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Janzen, C., Wiggers, H., Knipping, J., and Roth, P.: Formation and in situ sizing of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles in a microwave flow reactor. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 1, 221 (2001).Google Scholar
19 Reade Advanced Materials. Available at http://www.reade.com/products/oxides/hematite.html.Google Scholar