Low temperature crystallisation of mesoporous TiO2.
Conducting mesoporous TiO2 is rapidly gaining importance for green energy applications. To optimise performance, its porosity and crystallinity must be carefully fine-tuned. To this end, we have performed a detailed study on the temperature dependence of TiO2 crystallisation in mesoporous films. Crystal nucleation and growth of initially amorphous TiO2 derived by hydrolytic sol-gel chemistry is compared to the evolution of crystallinity from nanocrystalline building blocks obtained from non-hydrolytic sol-gel chemistry, and mixtures thereof. Our study addresses the question whether the critical temperature for crystal growth can be lowered by the addition of crystalline nucleation seeds.
Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK. Stefan.Guldin@epfl.ch.
Peter
P
Kohn
Sandeep
S
Pathak
Morgan
M
Stefik
Caterina
C
Ducati
Ulrich
U
Wiesner
Ullrich
U
Steiner
Stefan
S
Guldin