Large-area release and transfer of ultrathin, freestanding nanocrystalline ceria films

•Procedure for preparing and transferring 100 nm ceria films•Film transfer method takes as little as 5 min.•Method requires only one chemicals ingredient which can be as benign as saline solution.•Film areas on the order of square inches successfully transferred.•Film remains intact and self-supporting when transferred across a 1 mm pore

Methods for fully releasing ultrathin ceria films onto an aqueous solution interface, and transferring the film onto arbitrary substrates are presented. The area of the released and transferred film is virtually unlimited, and the release procedure completely avoids etching steps which can be slow and contaminating. Transfer of the ceria film from one substrate to another substrate takes < 10 min. Furthermore, the procedure is most-likely applicable to a wide array of sample configurations. The possibility of applying the procedure to other materials and film dimensions is discussed. This method will be extremely useful for research and development of thin oxide films and membranes, and has potential for larger scale production.