Aero-TiO<sub>2</sub> Prepared on the Basis of Networks of ZnO Tetrapods
Vladimir Ciobanu,
Veaceslav V. Ursaki,
Sebastian Lehmann,
Tudor Braniste,
Simion Raevschi,
Victor V. Zalamai,
Eduard V. Monaico,
Pascal Colpo,
Kornelius Nielsch,
Ion M. Tiginyanu
Affiliations
Vladimir Ciobanu
National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Technical University of Moldova, 2004 Chisinau, Moldova
Veaceslav V. Ursaki
National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Technical University of Moldova, 2004 Chisinau, Moldova
Sebastian Lehmann
Institute for Metallic Materials (IMW), Leibniz Institute of Solid State and Materials Research (IFW Dresden), Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Tudor Braniste
National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Technical University of Moldova, 2004 Chisinau, Moldova
Simion Raevschi
Department of Physics and Engineering, State University of Moldova, Alexei Mateevici Str. 60, 2009 Chisinau, Moldova
Victor V. Zalamai
National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Technical University of Moldova, 2004 Chisinau, Moldova
Eduard V. Monaico
National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Technical University of Moldova, 2004 Chisinau, Moldova
Pascal Colpo
European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
Kornelius Nielsch
Institute for Metallic Materials (IMW), Leibniz Institute of Solid State and Materials Research (IFW Dresden), Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Ion M. Tiginyanu
National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Technical University of Moldova, 2004 Chisinau, Moldova
In this paper, new aeromaterials are proposed on the basis of titania thin films deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) on a sacrificial network of ZnO microtetrapods. The technology consists of two technological steps applied after ALD, namely, thermal treatment at different temperatures and etching of the sacrificial template. Two procedures are applied for etching, one of which is wet etching in a citric acid aqua solution, while the other one is etching in a hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) system with HCl and hydrogen chemicals. The morphology, composition, and crystal structure of the produced aeromaterials are investigated depending on the temperature of annealing and the sequence of the technological steps. The performed photoluminescence analysis suggests that the developed aeromaterials are potential candidates for photocatalytic applications.
