Replacing the wet chemical activation with an atmospheric pressure technique in electroless deposition of Prussian blue

Abstract In this study the deposition of Prussian blue (PB) thin films was accomplished by the use of a new approach. The typical wet chemical activation using palladium and a reducing agent was replaced with an open atmosphere technique. The advantage of this replacement is a precise control over the distribution of seeds and the possibility of treating sensitive substrates due to the lack of acids. Silver was used as the seed layer material resulting in more homogeneous PB films. The influence of different seeding parameters on the appearance of the PB thin film was investigated. Successful silver activation was verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Atomic-force microscopy. The subsequent applied PB film was characterised using UV–vis spectroscopy revealing significant differences resulting from the silver pre-treatment. As a model conception, this could be used for several other seeding processes.