Dielectric Barrier Discharge as a Source of Microplasma for TiO2 Submicron Particle Deposition

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was used as a source of low-temperature plasma generated in a mixture of air and argon at atmospheric pressure for the deposition of a TiO2 layer from a precursor on a brass or glass substrate. The DBD was generated between two plane-parallel electrodes covered with a dielectric barrier and supplied with an AC high voltage at a frequency of 5 kHz. In this paper, a TiO2 layer was deposited from vaporised titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP), as a precursor, conveyed via argon as a carrier gas in air. The deposited layer was then annealed at a temperature of 450 °C for a time of 2 h. The results of laboratory investigations show that DBD plasma generated in a mixture of air and argon at atmospheric pressure with a precursor can be a useful tool to produce an anatase TiO2 thin porous layer. The physical properties of the obtained layers were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Layer morphology was different depending on the substrate used: in the case of the brass substrate, the layer was built from particles with an average size larger than that of the layer built on the glass substrate. The effect of substrates with different electrical properties on TiO2 layer morphology deposited in DBD has not yet been investigated.