Abstract
The phase behaviour of TiO
2
films and powders produced from Ti(O
i
Pr)
4
-based sols in ethanol modified with diethanolamine is investigated. The anatase/rutile phase concentrations vary with conditions and are correlated with samples from an acid-catalysed sol used in the same way to make films and powders. Diethanolamine is effective in increasing smoothness of films and reducing cracking, but also results in rutile formation when samples are heated at 600 °C. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic spectroscopy were used to interrogate the species present in solution, where specific cluster types were found to be prominent and the diethanolamine was shown to coordinate with titanium via all three donor atoms.
Graphical Abstract