Advancing superhydrophilic surfaces: The impact of Ti@ZnO nanowires fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

IF 5.1 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, CERAMICS

Ceramics International Pub Date : 2025-05-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ceramint.2025.01.494

Amitabha Nath , Madhuri Mishra , Subhananda Chakrabarti

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Abstract

This study investigates the superhydrophilic properties of titanium (Ti) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NW) fabricated via pulsed laser deposition (PLD), with Ti thin films deposited using the electron beam evaporation (e-beam) technique. An open-air annealing process at 700 °C for 1 h resulted in the formation of Ti@ZnO NW. Field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) revealed a densely packed structure in Ti@ZnO NW, attributed to the Ti coating, which enhances the compactness compared to undoped ZnO NW. Elemental composition analysis via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) provided insights into the structural properties, while atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicated increased surface roughness in Ti@ZnO NW (8.822 nm) compared to undoped ZnO NW (2.265 nm). The grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) analysis demonstrated an increased crystallite size of 25.80 nm for Ti@ZnO NW versus 18.94 nm for undoped ZnO NW, contributing to enhanced superhydrophilic behavior due to lower surface energy. Optical absorption analysis revealed a main bandgap of 3.00 eV and a sub-bandgap of 1.50 eV, attributed to Ti-induced defect states that extend light absorption into the visible range. The functional groups of the samples were characterized using a fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer. The superhydrophilic nature of Ti@ZnO NW was confirmed by a lower contact angle of 74.1° compared to 98.6° for undoped ZnO NW. Enhanced properties with sliding angle of 61.52°, maximum frictional force of 1.93 μN, and rapid wettability transition (9.13 × 10⁻⁵ ^°−1/second)—indicate Ti@ZnO NW's suitability for applications in smart surfaces, microfluidic devices, and advanced surface functionalities.

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推进超亲水性表面：脉冲激光沉积制备Ti@ZnO纳米线的影响

本研究研究了脉冲激光沉积（PLD）制备的钛（Ti）掺杂氧化锌（ZnO）纳米线（NW）的超亲水性，并采用电子束蒸发（e-beam）技术沉积Ti薄膜。在700℃下露天退火1 h，形成Ti@ZnO NW。场发射枪扫描电镜（fg - sem）显示，Ti@ZnO NW中的Ti涂层具有致密的堆积结构，与未掺杂ZnO NW相比，Ti涂层增强了致密性。通过能量色散x射线光谱（EDX）的元素组成分析提供了对结构性质的深入了解，而原子力显微镜（AFM）表明，与未掺杂的ZnO NW （2.265 nm）相比，Ti@ZnO NW （8.822 nm）的表面粗糙度增加。掠入射x射线衍射（GIXRD）分析表明，Ti@ZnO NW的晶粒尺寸增加了25.80 nm，而未掺杂的ZnO NW的晶粒尺寸增加了18.94 nm，由于表面能较低，导致超亲水性增强。光吸收分析显示，由于钛诱导的缺陷态将光吸收扩展到可见光范围，主带隙为3.00 eV，子带隙为1.50 eV。用傅里叶变换红外光谱仪（FT-IR）对样品的官能团进行了表征。与未掺杂ZnO NW的98.6°相比，Ti@ZnO NW的接触角较低，为74.1°，证实了其超亲水性。增强的性能，滑动角为61.52°，最大摩擦力为1.93 μN，快速润湿性转变（9.13 × 10−5°−1/秒）-表明Ti@ZnO NW适用于智能表面，微流体器件和高级表面功能。

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来源期刊

Ceramics International 工程技术-材料科学：硅酸盐

CiteScore

9.40

自引率

15.40%

发文量

4558

审稿时长

25 days

期刊介绍： Ceramics International covers the science of advanced ceramic materials. The journal encourages contributions that demonstrate how an understanding of the basic chemical and physical phenomena may direct materials design and stimulate ideas for new or improved processing techniques, in order to obtain materials with desired structural features and properties. Ceramics International covers oxide and non-oxide ceramics, functional glasses, glass ceramics, amorphous inorganic non-metallic materials (and their combinations with metal and organic materials), in the form of particulates, dense or porous bodies, thin/thick films and laminated, graded and composite structures. Process related topics such as ceramic-ceramic joints or joining ceramics with dissimilar materials, as well as surface finishing and conditioning are also covered. Besides traditional processing techniques, manufacturing routes of interest include innovative procedures benefiting from externally applied stresses, electromagnetic fields and energetic beams, as well as top-down and self-assembly nanotechnology approaches. In addition, the journal welcomes submissions on bio-inspired and bio-enabled materials designs, experimentally validated multi scale modelling and simulation for materials design, and the use of the most advanced chemical and physical characterization techniques of structure, properties and behaviour. Technologically relevant low-dimensional systems are a particular focus of Ceramics International. These include 0, 1 and 2-D nanomaterials (also covering CNTs, graphene and related materials, and diamond-like carbons), their nanocomposites, as well as nano-hybrids and hierarchical multifunctional nanostructures that might integrate molecular, biological and electronic components.