Abstract
$TiO_2$ is a promising material for gas sensors. To achieve high sensitivities, the material should exhibit a large surface-to-volume ratio and possess the high accessibility of the gas molecules to the surface. Accordingly, a wide variety of porous $TiO_2$ nanomaterials synthesized by wet-chemical methods have been reported for gas sensor applications. Nonetheless, achieving the large-area uniformity and comparability with well-established semiconductor production processes of the methods is still challenging. An alternative method is soft-templating which utilizes nanostructured inorganic or organic materials as sacrificial templates for the preparation of porous materials. Fabrication of macroporous $TiO_2$ films and hollow $TiO_2$ tubes by soft-templating and their gas sensing applications have been reported recently. In these porous materials composed of assemblies of individual micro/nanostructures, the form of links or necks between individual micro/nanostructures is a critical factor to determine gas sensing properties of the material. However, a systematic study to clarify the role of links between individual micro/nanostructures in gas sensing properties of a porous metal oxide matrix is thoroughly lacking. In this work, we have demonstrated a fabrication method to prepare highly-ordered, embossed $TiO_2$ films composed of anatase $TiO_2$ hollow hemispheres via soft-templating using polystyrene beads. The form of links between hollow hemispheres could be controlled by $O_2$ plasma etching on the bead templates. This approach reveals the strong correlation of gas sensitivity with the form of the links. Our experimental results highlight that not only the surface-to-volume ratio of an ensemble material composed of individual micro/nanostructures but also the links between individual micro/nanostructures play a critical role in evaluating the sensing properties of the material. In addition to this general finding, the facileness, large-scale productivity, and compatability with semiconductor production process of the proposed fabrication method promise applications of the embossed $TiO_2$ films to high-quality sensors.
