Site selective micro-patterned rutile TiO2 film through a seed layer deposition

Micro-patterned films obtained from micro-contact printing (μCP) method are often challenged by site selectivity limitation. For applications site-selectivity requires improvements. In this paper a site-selective deposition of the rutile TiO2 thin films on patterned SnO2 film, which was formed on the patterned octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) SAMs through μCP is described. The depositions proceeded in an environmentally friendly aqueous solution (SnCl4 and peroxotitanium acidic solution) at a lower temperature (80 °C). It is shown that the OTS SAMs has a good selectivity deposition for SnO2 particles, which was mainly dominated by the heterogeneous nucleation mechanism. The SnO2 layer had a structure-directing effect for growth of the rutile TiO2, which was usually formed above 600 °C. The patterned films were characterized by a variety of techniques, including ellipsometry, optical microscopy, SEM, AFM, XPS, and DLS to determine the thicknesses, topologies, microstructures, chemical compositions of the films, particle sizes and zeta potentials of the titanium particles.

Graphical abstractThe rutile TiO2 was deposited on the seed layer SnO2 that covered on the OTS SAMs. The deposition was conducted at only 80 °C and lower acidity.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide