Acicular crystal-assembled TiO2 thin films and their deposition mechanism

Acicular crystal-assembled TiO2 thin films were prepared on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates in aqueous solutions. They consisted of anatase crystals grown along the c-axis, which caused high c-axis orientation in X-ray diffraction patterns and electron diffraction patterns. Morphologies of TiO2 crystals were controlled by growth conditions to fabricate several types of TiO2 thin films. Furthermore, deposition mechanism of acicular crystals was investigated by comparison of crystal morphologies deposited for different immersion periods using solution aging method.