Surface morphology and topographical studies of fluorine doped tin oxide as transparent conducting film

Purpose: This paper deals about the preparation and characterization of transparent conducting metal oxide doped with fluorine for superhydrophobic applications. Design/methodology/approach: Fluorine doped tin oxide(FTO) have been deposited on glass substrate employing an inexpensive spray pyrolysis route. Uniform coating of thin film was controlled by the parameters like flow rate, exposure duration, temperature of pyrolysis process etc. Findings: Fluorine doped SnO2 was confirmed from FTIR studies. Transparent nature of the coating was evaluated through UV-vis. spectroscopy. Electrical resistivity of the deposited film measured using source meter showed a least resistance of 13 Ω. AFM & SEM analysis revealed the texture of nano SnO2 in the range of 100-300 nm. Unevenness is one of the prerequisite for achieving superhydrophobic nature, which has been explored through AFM results. Practical implications: An attempt has been done to fabricate fluorine doped tin oxide thin film using spray pyrolysis technique may be used for developing super hydrophobic coating application. Originality/value: This study aims to reduce the cost of forming superhydrophobic surfaces on comparison with the process like plasma etching and sensitizing with nanoparticles, etc.

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Opracowanie ze środków MNiSW w ramach umowy 812/P-DUN/2016 na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (zadania 2017)