TiO₂ Nanoparticle Arrays Prepared Using a Nanosphere Lithography Technique

Abstract

A nanosphere lithography technique has been used to synthesize periodic nanoparticle arrays of TiO 2 on glass substrates. Both monolayer and bilayer evaporation masks were generated from hexagonally close-packed polystyrene nanospheres, each one producing a different array of TiO 2 nanoparticles. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the masks typically consisted of ordered 10−100 µm 2 domains. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the surface composition of the particles corresponded to TiO 2 with minor amounts of a Ti 3+ species, presumably associated with edges, corners, and oxygen vacancy defects. Analysis of the AFM images indicated that the nanoparticles were circular in shape with array dimensions approximately consistent with simple geometric considerations for the 420 nm diameter polystyrene nanospheres used as masks in this work. The monolayer and bilayer masks yielded TiO 2 particle diameters of 169 ± 12 nm and 140 ± 13 nm, respectively. The absorption edge of the nanoparticle arrays are blue-shifted from single-crystal rutile.

Phase transformation of nanostructured titanium dioxide thin films grown by sol–gel method

“…However, the phase and morphology of n-TiO 2 have been found to be critical parameters in determining their stability for special applications [13][14][15][16][17]. Furthermore, the properties of the nTiO 2 thin films strongly depend on the deposition method and annealing temperature.…”

Monodisperse rutile microspheres with ultrasmall nanorods on surfaces: Synthesis, characterization, luminescence, and photocatalysis

“…7b). The position of the optic edge of TiO 2 nanostructures may be influenced more by the structures of the particles rather than their sizes [69,70]. Blue-shift phenomena in the luminescence spectra of numerous one-dimensional nanowires have been reported [71][72][73].…”

Micro- and Nanopatterning of Surfaces Employing Self Assembly of Nanoparticles and Its Application in Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering

“…Depending on the application pursued this may or may not be desirable. For example densely packed 2D crystals have been employed as masks during a metallization process leading to a regular arrangement of separated metal particles (Hulteen & van Duyne 1995;Hulteen, Treichel et al 1999;Jensen, Malinsky et al 2000;Haynes & van Duyne 2001;Bullen & Garrett 2002). Hard core repulsion between particles results in maximum packing density with a lattice constant corresponding to the particle diameter.…”

“…chapter 6). Secondly, the particle layer itself may be employed as mask during the deposition of metals to generate arrays of nanoparticles with diverse types of shapes (Hulteen & van Duyne 1995;Burmeister, Schäfle et al 1998;Hulteen, Treichel et al 1999;Jensen, Schatz et al 1999;Jensen, Malinsky et al 2000;Traci R. Jensen 2000;Haynes & van Duyne 2001;He, Yao et al 2001;Bullen & Garrett 2002;Gustavsson, Fredriksson et al 2004;Kosiorek, Kandulski et al 2004;Ormonde, Hicks et al 2004;Shemaiah M. Weekes 2004;Yang, Jang et al 2006). Size and shape of these nanoparticles govern their optical properties.…”