Fabrication and characterization of solution processable organosilane-modified colloidal titania nanoparticles and silica-titania hybrid films

Colloidal titania nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple sol-gel process. The obtained nanoparticles showed high crystallinity and were of the anatase type. These crystalline colloidal titania nanoparticles were organically modified using methyl- and glycidyl-grafted silanes in order to enhance their stability and solution processability. The stabilized colloidal titania nanoparticles could be dispersed homogeneously without aggregation and converted into silica-titania hybrid films with the heterogeneous Si-O-Ti bonds by a low-temperature solution process. The fabricated silica-titania hybrid films showed high transparency (~ 90%) in the visible range, and low RMS roughness (<1 nm). Therefore, the organosilane-modified crystalline colloidal titania nanoparticles can be used in solution-processable functional coatings for electro-optical devices.