Morphological, Optical, and Surface Wettability Analysis of Electron-Beam Synthesized Annealed TiO2 NW/Au TF

Self-cleaning surfaces have attracted much attention for the need to develop self-disinfected and hygienic surfaces. Surface wettability through nanomaterial fabrication has enticed the interest of researchers. The glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique was implemented inside an electron-beam chamber to fabricate titanium oxide (TiO2) nanowire (NW) on n-type silicon (Si) substrate. Gold (Au) thin film (TF) was synthesized on top of bare TiO2 NW, and then the sample was annealed at 950 degrees C. The sample morphology was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and selective area diffraction (SAED) pattern analysis. The surface roughness of the samples was examined by high-resolution atomic force microscopy (HR-AFM) analysis. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrums were used to analyze the optical properties. The static contact angles of 113.2 degrees and 41.2 degrees were identified for the bare TiO2 NW and annealed TiO2 NW/Au TF samples, respectively. For 90 min, water contact angle was reduced from 113.2 to 82.5 degrees for the bare TiO2 NW and from 41.2 to 14.2 degrees for the annealed TiO2 NW/Au TF sample. The sliding angles of 17.53 degrees and 38.1 degrees, the maximum frictional forces of 11.8 mu N and 24.19 mu N, in addition with the work of adhesions of 43.64 mN/m and 126.17 mN/m have also been calculated for the bare TiO2 NW and annealed TiO2 NW/Au TF samples, respectively. The enhanced characteristics of the annealed TiO2 NW/Au TF samples indicate an excellent potential for the applications of smart tiles, anti-fogging, and self-cleaning surfaces.