Fabrication of Oriented Polycrystalline Titania Films by Sol-Gel Process

Abstract

Various hydrosols of rutile and anatase particles were prepared by aging or autoclaving of amorphous titanium hydroxide precipitated from solutions. Crystalline gel films were formed by drying the sols on a glass substrate and separated from the substrate for sintering. The particles in the films, both rutile and anatase, have a tendency to orientate with the tetragonal caxis parallel to the film plane even before sintering. The degree of orientation increased with grain growth during firing. Rutile polycrystalline thin films, about 10μm in thickness, were obtained by sintering at 1300°C.