Deposition of iron titanate/titania ceramic composite thin films from a single molecular precursor

A heterobimetallic single molecular precursor, [Fe2Ti4(mu-O)(6)(TFA)(8)(THF)(6)] (1) [TFA = trifluoroacetate, THF = tetrahydrofuran], was synthesized by the simple reaction of [Fe3O(OAc)(6)(H2O)(3)]NO3 center dot 4H(2)O [OAc = acetato] with tetrakis(2-ethoxyethanalato) titanium(IV) in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid in THF. The synthesized precursor was analyzed by melting point, CHN analysis, FTIR, single crystal X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. Complex (1) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pca2(1) with cell dimensions a = 19.2114(14), b = 20.4804(15) and c = 17.2504(12) angstrom, and the complex undergoes thermal decomposition at 490 degrees C to give a residual mass corresponding to an Fe2TiO5-TiO2 composite mixture. The synthesized precursor was utilized for deposition of Fe2TiO5-TiO2 composite thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) on glass substrates at 500 degrees C using argon as the carrier gas. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analyses of the thin films suggest the formation of good quality crystalline thin films of an Fe2TiO5-TiO2 composite with an average grain size of 0.105-0.120 mu m. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.