Abstract :
[en] Anatase mesoporous TiO2 thin films are frequently prepared by surfactant templating to control porosity
development and Atmospheric Ellipsometric Porosimetry is a reliable and fast technique allowing the
determination of the porosity of such films. After prolonged exposition to high-vacuum (6×10-6 mbar), the films porosity exhibits a degraded behavior during porosimetric measurements, indicating
a vacuum-induced modification. The main effect resulting from such exposition to high-vacuum is a wet-
tability modification of the films, resulting in an increase of the hydrophobic character of the TiO2 surface.
This evolution induces non-correct results in porosimetric measurements due to the fact that the contact
angle parameter needed to calculate the pore size distribution is highly different from the reference films.
A surface contamination explains such modifications and a restoration of the films is obtained by using
ultraviolet treatment.
Research Center/Unit :
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique Structurale (LCIS, ULiège)
Groupe de Recherche en Energie et ENvironnement à partir des MATériaux (GREEnMat, ULiège)
Institut de Physique Nucléaire, Atomique et de Spectroscopie (IPNAS, ULiège)
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