Annealing effects on the surface properties of Cu-TiC thin films

Abstract We report the surface properties of Cu-TiC thin film coatings which are prepared by the sol–gel process and annealed in ultra-high vacuum (UHV), at different temperatures up to 500 °C. The structural characterization of the film microstructure reveals the polycrystalline nature of the films by XRD patterns. The hydrophobicity of the films is increased to 110° with an increase in annealing temperature as measured from the static contact angle measurements. The surface morphology is studied by SEM images where densification of the film surface has occurred with the agglomeration of particles. In the post-annealing phase, the AFM study shows that the surface roughness is increased with grain growth. The fractal analysis reveals that the fractal dimension D f lies within the range 2.41–2.62 depending upon the annealing temperature as calculated by the box-counting method. The decreasing wettability of the film with increased surface roughness as a function of annealing temperature is very much promising for various biological applications.