Deposition of iron titanate/titania ceramic composite thin films from a single molecular precursor

摘要

A heterobimetallic single molecular precursor, [Fe_2Ti _4(μ-O)_6(TFA)_8(THF)_6] (1) [TFA = trifluoroacetate, THF = tetrahydrofuran], was synthesized by the simple reaction of [Fe_3O(OAc)_6(H_2O)_3]NO _3·4H_2O [OAc = acetato] with tetrakis(2- ethoxyethanalato)titanium(IV) in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid in THF. The synthesized precursor was analyzed by melting point, CHN analysis, FTIR, single crystal X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. Complex (1) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pca2_1 with cell dimensions a = 19.2114(14), b = 20.4804(15) and c = 17.2504(12), and the complex undergoes thermal decomposition at 490 °C to give a residual mass corresponding to an Fe_2TiO_5-TiO_2 composite mixture. The synthesized precursor was utilized for deposition of Fe _2TiO_5-TiO_2 composite thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) on glass substrates at 500 °C using argon as the carrier gas. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analyses of the thin films suggest the formation of good quality crystalline thin films of an Fe_2TiO_5-TiO_2 composite with an average grain size of 0.105-0.120 μm.