Morphology Phase Diagram of Slot-Die Printed TiO₂ Films Based on Sol–Gel Synthesis

Mesoporous titania films with tailored nanostructures are fabricated via slot-die printing, which is a simple and cost-effective thin-film deposition technique with the possibility of a large-scale manufacturing. Based on this technique, which is favorable in industry, TiO₂ films possess the similar advantage with polymer semiconducting devices like ease of large-scale production. The titania morphologies, including foam-like nanostructures, nanowire aggregates, collapsed vesicles and nanogranules, are achieved via a so-called block-copolymer-assisted sol–gel synthesis. By adjusting the weight fraction of reactants, the ternary morphology phase diagram of the printed titania films is probed after template removal. The surface and inner morphology evolutions are explored with scanning electron microscopy and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, respectively. Special focus is set on foam-like titania nanostructures as they are of especial interest for, e.g., solar cell applications. At a low weight fraction of the titania precursor titanium(IV)isopropoxide (TTIP), foam-like titania films are achieved, which exhibit a high uniformity and possess large pore sizes. The anatase phase of the highly crystalline titania films is verified with X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.