Thin Solid Films, Vol.415, No.1-2, 253-257, 2002
Surface functionalisation by the condensation of hybrid titanate-amino sols
The sol-gel technique has been used to produce titania thin films doped with amino groups on the surfaces. Both propylamine and aminopropyl-triethoxysilane were tested as sources of amino groups and the influence of varying molar concentrations was analysed. The high sol-gel activity of tetraisopropyl-orthotitanate precursors was the driving force for the fixation of amino groups. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques were used for the physico-chemical characterisation of the thin doped films. The thermal evolution of the amino bonds as well as the formation of a Ti-Si poly-oxide network was analysed at different temperatures. These results open the possibility of producing coatings with a high surface density of amino groups, which are increasingly used in bio-engineering processes.
Keywords:sol-gel;surface functionalisation;Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy;X-ray diffraction