Spray Deposition of Au/TiO2 Composite Thin Films Using Preformed Nanoparticles

Plasmonic TiO2:Au composite layers deposited in situ by chemical spray pyrolysis

“…A significant decrease in the TiO 2 :Au layer thickness could be observed when comparing the as-deposited and annealed layers ( Table 1). The decrease in the film thickness after annealing is probably an effect of annealing which removes organic residues as well as consolidation of the TiO 2 matrix [15].…”

“…This can result in the red shift of the plasmonic resonance spectral band [25]. Second, annealing causes the formation and densification of TiO 2 anatase in the matrix material, which gives an increase of the refractive index of the matrix [15]. In order to understand the correlation between the structural data and the optical spectra of the TiO 2 :Au composite layers, the spectral position of the plasmon extinction band was simulated by Mie theory [24].…”

“…To obtain Au-NPs by spray pyrolysis, either preformed nanoparticles are added into the spray solution [12,15] or NPs are generated during the spray pyrolysis deposition process via thermal decomposition of Au-precursor salts such as HAuCl 4 • nH 2 O, HAuCl 4 and HAuCl 4 ⋅ 3H 2 O [8][9][10][11]. Thermoanalytical studies have shown that the decomposition of HAuCl 4 ⋅ 3H 2 O into pure gold and gaseous products takes place in the temperature range of 75-320°C in air [16].…”

“…Recently, it has been shown that SnO 2 [9], ZnO [8,10] and ZrO 2 [11] thin films with Au-nanoparticles could be deposited in situ by chemical spray pyrolysis method at temperatures of 400°C or above. However, TiO 2 layers with preformed Aunanoparticles have been deposited at significantly lower temperature of 200°C by spray [12,15]. Moreover, it has been shown lately that Au-NPs deposited by spray method have enhanced the out-put characteristics of the dye-sensitized [12] and sprayed inorganic thin film [17] solar cells.…”

In-situ deposition of gold nanoparticles onto different substrates by chemical spray pyrolysis

“…To obtain Au-NPs by spray pyrolysis either preformed nanoparticles are sprayed [13] or Au-NPs are generated via thermal decomposition of Au-precursor salts such as HAuCl4•nH2O, HAuCl4, HAuCl4•3H2O [10-12, 14,15]. The previous thermoanalytical study has shown that the thermal decomposition of HAuCl4•3H2O into pure gold and gaseous products takes place as a gradual decomposition process in the temperature range of 75-320 °C in air.…”