Pure brookite titania crystals with large surface area deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition technique

Pure brookite phase titania crystals with large surface area have been synthesized at room temperature by the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition technique, using titanium tetra-isopropoxide vapour, argon and oxygen mixtures, deposited on silicon (100) substrates under an applied substrate d.c. bias voltage of -250 V The X-ray diffraction analysis for the as-deposited titania has confirmed the crystallinity and phase as brookite titania. Scanning Electron Microscope micrographs show the morphology of the brookite titania crystals with largest lateral dimensions of about 500 x 1200 nm, i.e. relatively large surface area crystals. There are no reports on the preparation of brookite titania crystals with such large surface areas. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.