Issue 10, 2019

On the role of micro-porosity in affecting the environmental stability of atomic/molecular layer deposited (ZnO)a(Zn–O–C6H4–O)b films

Abstract

Atomic/molecular layer deposited (ALD/MLD) inorganic–organic thin films form a novel class of materials with tunable properties. In selected cases, hybrid materials are reported to show environmental instability, specifically towards moisture. In this article, we focus on zinc oxide/zincone multi-layers with the theoretical formula of (ZnO)a(Zn–O–C6H4–O)b. We show by means of ellipsometric porosimetry that micro-porosity in the range of 0.42 and 2 nm in the pristine zincone layer is responsible for its environmental degradation. During degradation, it is found that a relative micro-porosity content of 1.2 ± 0.1 vol% in the pristine zincone films evolves into micro-mesoporosity with a relative content of 39 ± 1 vol%. We also show that the micro-porosity in the zincone layer can be gradually suppressed when few cycles (a = 1–10) of ZnO are introduced. The resulting (ZnO)a(Zn–O–C6H4–O)b = 1 periodic multilayer is an environmentally stable film with a = 10. It is found that the suppressed micro-porosity is due to the development of continuous ZnO layers with a ≥ 10.

Graphical abstract: On the role of micro-porosity in affecting the environmental stability of atomic/molecular layer deposited (ZnO)a(Zn–O–C6H4–O)b films

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 ဇန် 2019
Accepted
18 ဖေ 2019
First published
18 ဖေ 2019

Dalton Trans., 2019,48, 3496-3505

On the role of micro-porosity in affecting the environmental stability of atomic/molecular layer deposited (ZnO)a(Zn–O–C6H4–O)b films

M. Aghaee, J. Niemelä, W. M. M. Kessels and M. Creatore, Dalton Trans., 2019, 48, 3496 DOI: 10.1039/C9DT00189A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements