Mahalingam, S.; (2008) Electrohydrodynamic processing and characterisation of titanium dioxide films. Doctoral thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

The research in this thesis demonstrates a novel electrohydrodynamic preparation of titanium dioxide (TiC>2) films. In this process, a liquid breaks up into spray droplets under influence of an electric field. This process is influenced by many factors properties of the liquid - surface tension, electrical conductivity, relative permittivity, viscosity, density and liquid flow rate and applied voltage. This technique has unique advantage like simple set-up and economical way to formulate the films. Many modes of processing were identified by drawing the mode-selection map for various applied voltage and flow rate using a titania sol. For a fixed flow rate, changing the applied voltage changed the processing mode. For a fixed applied voltage, changing the flow rate changed the shape of the liquid filament at the end of the needle. The stable cone-jet mode processing produced a near mono-disperse of droplets. The stable cone-jet processing of TiC>2 films showed anatase phase and converted to rutile phase at higher annealing temperature. The morphological characterisation revealed the dense and crack free surfaces of the TiC>2 films. The dielectric constant of the electrohydrodynamically processed TiC>2 films was 7. The increase in annealing temperature reduced the dielectric constant of the films. The leakage current density of the films was improved by post deposition annealing. The optical characterisation of the films showed a good transparency in the visible light region. The transmission in the visible range varied between 70-90%. The annealing temperature influenced the transmittance of the films. The energy bandgap is -3.50 eV for indirect transition. The larger coverage area nitrogen doped titanium dioxide films were obtained by using a metal clamped needle - ground electrode set-up for the first time. Metal clamping the needle lowered the stable cone-jet operating voltage window. The nitrogen doping in TiC>2 films retarded the phase formation however, showed anatase phase even at higher doping concentration. The absorption in doped films is higher than that of undoped ones by 8-15%.

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