Spray Deposition of Au/TiO2 Composite Thin Films Using Preformed Nanoparticles

Abstract

A single-step process to deposit a composite film of Au nanoparticles in a TiO2 matrix has been investigated by a spray deposition technique. A preformed gold colloid was used as a precursor along with the titanium precursor to deposit gold/titanium composite films onto glass. The composite films were deposited onto Pilkington float glass using spray coating. The deposition temperature was varied from 200 degrees C up to 550 degrees C. UV-vis spectra of the films showed that the surface plasmon absorption maximum was red-shifted from 544 nm to 600 nm with increasing substrate temperatures, corresponding to a colour transition from red to blue in transmission. This process, based on a spray technique, offers a simple, rapid and low-cost approach to large-area deposition. The single-step route leads to a homogeneous composite film and controllable properties of the spray solution.