Preparation and crystallization of sol–gel C12A7 thin films

Abstract

The binary compound 12CaO·7Al2O3 (C12A7) in the CaO–Al2O3 system was synthesized as a thin film via the sol–gel drop casting method on MgO ⟨1 0 0⟩ single crystal substrates. The resulting films were subjected to heat treatment at different temperatures ranging from 700 to 1200 °C and then comprehensive surface morphology, structural and elemental studies were carried out. Initial signs of the crystallization of the C12A7 thin film was observed at 800 °C and the complete crystallization was achieved on heat treatment at 1100 °C for 3 h.

Models of stoichiometric and oxygen-deficient surfaces of subnanoporous 12CaO·7Al 2 O 3

“…While electronic properties of C12A7 electride surfaces have been addressed experimentally to some extent , Yanagi et al 2009, little information about the C12A7 surface structure is available, apart from the general morphology characterization of solgel particles (Zahedi et al 2008;Gong et al 2010).…”

Vibrational spectroscopic studies on crystallisation of sol–gel derived thin films of calcia–alumina binary compound

“…Hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used as the pH regulator [10,11]. However, our initial attempt in the deposition of C12A7 thin films on the MgO substrates using this recipe resulted in the formation of discontinuous films with dendritic growth behaviour.…”

High temperature optical absorption investigation into the electronic transitions in sol–gel derived C12A7 thin films

“…However, only a limited number of reports are focused on thin film production and characterisation. Two fabrication techniques, which have been previously suggested for the preparation of C12A7 thin films, include pulsed laser deposition [11][12][13][14] and sol-gel spin coating method [15,16]. The former technique is relatively costly and requires a C12A7 target as the starting material for the deposition of the film while obtaining a continuous defect-free thin oxide film with a high critical thickness using sol-gel technique is found to be quite challenging.…”