The effect of nanocrystalline tungsten oxide concentration on surface properties of dip-coated hydrophilic WO3-SiO2 thin films

N. Naseri, R. Azimirad, O. Akhavan, A. Z. Moshfegh

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Abstract

WO3-SiO2 compound thin films were deposited on glass substrates using the sol-gel method, and then all the samples were dried at 100 °C and annealed at 400 °C in air. The effect of WO3 concentration on the hydrophilicity of WO3-SiO2 compound films was studied for the first time and it was shown that the films containing 85 mol% of the concentration possessed a superhydrophilic surface without UV or visible irradiation. Optical properties of the films such as transmittance, reflectance and bandgap energy were investigated using a UV-visible spectrophotometer. According to atomic force microscopy, the surface ratio was maximized in 85 mol% concentration of WO3 similar to hydrophilicity. Surface chemical states of the films were studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which determined the stoichiometry of the deposited thin films. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the compound thin films constituted of nanocrystalline tungsten oxide grains with 60-10 nm grain size depending on the WO3 concentration.

Original languageEnglish
Article number034
Pages (from-to)2089-2095
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Volume40
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Apr 2007
Externally publishedYes

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