TiO2 thin films self-assembled with a partly fluorinated surfactant template

New TiO(2) films have been self-assembled on solid substrate by dip-coating using TiCl(4) as the titanium source and the partly fluorinated surfactant F(CF(2))(8)C(2)H(4)(OC(2)H(4))(9)OH as the liquid crystal template. By control over the dip-withdrawal speed, film thicknesses from a minimum of 43 nm were produced with rms roughnesses of 0.5-0.7 nm. The films were characterized by X-ray reflectivity, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, atomic force microscopy, contact angle measurements, and Raman spectroscopy. Their GI-SAXS patterns are characteristic of a 2-D hexagonal structure in which tubular rods of the fluorinated surfactant are packed hexagonally and aligned parallel to the substrate. Reflectivity and contact angle measurements of the as-prepared film indicate that a low-density hydrophilic TiO(2) surface presents to the air.