The Fabrication of TiO2 Mesoporous Thick Films by Employing a Pre-Embedded ZnO Nanorods Support

Abstract

TiO2 mesoporous films with a thickness more than 2 Am were synthesized through the evaporation-induced self-assembly approach. In order to prevent the formation of cracks due to the strain during the calcination, we employed the ZnO nanorod arrays as a pre-embedded support, which were obtained from an aqueous solution method. The spaces between ZnO nanorods were filled with TiO2 sol-gel by a dip-coater. Then ZnO nanorods embedded in the thick film were eliminated by a wet chemical etching method and the left spaces were refilled by the TiO2 sol-gel. As a result, a dense and thick TiO2 mesoporous film was obtained. The resultant materials were characterized in detail by using small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy methods (TEM).