Synthesis of mesostructured titanium dioxide films by surfactant-templated sol-gel method

Mesostructured titanium dioxide films have been synthesized by modifying sol-gel methods in the presence of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer surfactants as a structure-directing agent. The synthesized films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). XRD investigation revealed that as-deposited and as-dried films showed a hexagonal arrangement. With increasing heat-treatment temperature, the mesostructure of the films degraded. From TEM and SAED studies, the degradation of the mesostructure can be explained by the grain growth of microcrystalline titanium dioxide.