Titania films, photocatalytic nanostructured

A novel method of a photocatalytic lithography based on a photogeneration of Pd nanoparticles in thin films of Pd2+-doped nanostructured titania followed by an electroless nickel plating is proposed. The possibility of a generation of both negative and positive metal patterns employing TiC>2 Pd2+ photolayers is discussed in terms of a dispersity of a photoproduced Pd nanophase and its catalytic activity towards an eletroless nickel deposition. 

The photoproduction of Pd nanoparticles in the Pd2+-doped nanostructured films of hydrated titania is the basis for the novel version of the photocatalytic lithography which does not suffer from charge spreading effects and enables the generation of both negative and positive metal patterns with a similar resolution. 

The principle and the research progress in the electrophoretic sol-gel deposition technique, which is combined sol-gel method for particle preparation and electrophoretic deposition of the sol-gel derived particles, have been described. In the principal, (1) preparation of particles by the sol-gel method, (2) deposition of particles by electrophoresis, (3) constant-voltage and constant-current deposition, and (4) solvent and electrification are introduced, hi the practical application, (1) silica thickfihns, (2) titania thick films, (3) polysilsesquioxane thick films, and (4) template-based oxide nanorods are illustrated. The electrophoretic sol-gel deposition technique offers the advantages of functional coatings in various research fields such as chemically and mechanically protective, electrically conductive, photocatalytic and bioactive materials, and it expands the possibility of fabricating optical components and ahgned micro- and nanostructures. 

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