Nanoporous gyroid TiO2 and SnO2 by melt infiltration of block copolymer templates

Abstract Fabrication of meso-porous metal oxide thin films with high surface area is a crucial requirement for numerous applications, such as catalysis, photovoltaics and electronics. Despite considerable progress in fabrication of three-dimensional metal oxide nanostructures, it is still quite challenging to manufacture highly ordered structures over a large area in a controlled way. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate fabrication of interconnected, crack-free and highly ordered ceramic films using a nano-porous polymer with gyroid morphology as template. Titanium tetraisopropoxide and tin chloride dihydrate are used as precursors for nanostructured TiO 2 and SnO 2 , respectively. Complete precursor infiltration into the template and successful transformation into metal oxides can be achieved by rational tuning of the template chemistry. As a result, thin films of nanostructured metal oxides with gyroid morphology, such as titania and tin dioxide, are created and thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive analysis, x-ray diffraction and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis.