Sol-gel preparation of solid and porous films of titanium oxide and metal titanates

TiO₂ films and powders have been synthesised using sol-gel methods with a number of sol formulation, including Ti(OiPr)4 and Ti(Onbu)₄- based sols modified with diethanolamine (DEA), and a Ti(OiPr)4 based sol with HCl-catalyst. Mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) were used to interrogate the species present in solution.

BaTiO₃ and Bi₂Ti₂O₇ films were prepared using sols based on titanium alkoxides, acetic acid, acetylacetone and methoxyethanol with simple barium or bismuth salts. Mesoporous TiO₂, BaTiO₃ and Bi₂Ti₂O₇ films were prepared using different block copolymer templates and a hard template route based on carbon infiltration into MCM-41 mesoporous silica was investigated. Tetragonal BaTiO₃ and pyrochlore Bi₂Ti₂O₇ inverse opal films were synthesised by using 500 nm PS spheres as a template.