Investigation on Flame Synthesis of TiO_2 Thin Films with Controlled Morphology to Harvest Solar Energy

摘要

Nanostructured TiO_2 thin films have been extensively studied for use in solar energy applications, such as photosplitting of water and dye sensitized solar cells. The thin film morphology has been identified as an important, efficiency-limiting aspect of TiO_2 film characteristics. In this study, we coated the nanostructured TiO_2 thin films on silicon substrate with well-controlled morphology and thickness by the aerosol flame deposition (AFD) process. There are four important process variables such as TTIP feed rate, deposition height, total gas flow rate and deposition time. Their effects on the resultant morphology and thickness of the TiO_2 thin film were investigated. We analyzed various characteristic times in this AFD process based on our process conditions. The calculated reaction time is smaller than the residence time, and the sintering time is much smaller than the collision time, which indicates that individual particle deposition process was dominant for deposition.