CHARACTERIZATION OF TiO2 THIN FILMS DERIVED USING ACETIC ACID AND NITRIC ACID

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) thin films were prepared via sol gel method using different concentration of glacial acetic acid and nitric acid. The deposition of TiO 2 gel on the ITO substrate was conducted using spin coating techniques at a rate of 3,000 rpm for 30 s and was calcinated at 500 o C for 10 minutes. The study was conducted to determine the surface morphology and characteristic of the TiO 2 thin film based on the different acid precursor. The GAA -TiO 2 and HNO 3 -TiO 2 thin film were analyzed using Contact Angle Goniometer for absorption property study and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for surface topography study. The result indicated that different acid and different concentration influence wettability of the synthesized TiO 2 thin film. Higher concentration of GAA results in higher contact angle of TiO 2 thin film whereas higher concentration of HNO 3 reduced the contact angle of TiO 2 thin film. However, the contact angle obtained through this study was in a range of 27.55 o -67.55 o for the concentration acid of 8 -10 mmol which represent hydrophilic characteristic of the TiO 2 thin film. For surface analysis, uneven and not uniform surface of thin film was detected for the entire sample. This might be due to the several factors such as temperature and particle size that limited the adhesion of the TiO 2 sol gel to the ITO substrate. Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was used to validate the present of the Ti-O bond vibrations in the sample and it was observed in ranges of 515-800 cm −1 . On the other hand, the crystallinity structure of the synthesized TiO 2 was validated using X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that both GAA -TiO 2 and HNO 3 -TiO 2 mixtures gave a strong anatase crystal structure. The major XRD diffraction peaks can be attributed to (101), (004), (200), (211), (204) and (116) plane of the tetragonal TiO 2 -anatase phase.Keywords: characterization, acid, thin films, titanium dioxide, titanium isopropoxide Abstrak Titanium dioksida (TiO 2 ) filem nipis telah dihasilkan melalui kaedah sol gel dengan menggunakan kepekatan asid asetik glasial dan asid nitrik yang berbeza. Pemendakan gel TiO 2 pada substrat ITO dilakukan menggunakan teknik salutan berputar pada kadar 3,000 rpm selama 30 s dan dikalsinasi pada 500 o C selama 10 minit. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan morfologi permukaan dan ciri-ciri filem TiO 2 nipis berdasarkan kepekatan asid yang berbeza. Filem nipis GAA -TiO 2 dan HNO 3 -TiO 2 dianalisis dengan menggunakan goniometer sudut sentuh untuk kajian ciri-ciri penyerapan dan mikroskop imbasan elektron (SEM) untuk kajian topografi permukaan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa asid yang berbeza dan kepekatan yang berbeza mempengaruhi kelembapan TiO 2 filem nipis yang dihasilkan. Kepekatan GAA yang tinggi menghasilkan sudut sentuh yang lebih tinggi pada TiO 2 filem nipis manakala kepekatan HNO 3 yang lebih tinggi mengurangkan sudut sentuh (101), (004), (200), (211), (204) dan (116).Kata kunci: pencirian, asid, filem nipis, titanium ...