Effect of external fields applied during hot-water treatment on the aspect ratio of nanocrystallites formed on SiO₂·TiO₂ coatings derived from sol–gel techniques

SiO₂·TiO₂ coatings were prepared by a sol–gel route. The effect of the external fields including mechanical vibration and electric charge applied during hot-water treatment on titania precipitation at the surface of the coatings was investigated. The shape of the resulting precipitates tended to elongate by applying vibration in a parallel or perpendicular direction, or by applying an electric charge. The organization of titania nanocrystallites possibly occurs because of the concentration gradient of dissolved titania species generated by the external fields during the hot-water treatment. A maximum aspect ratio of 38.1 was achieved for the precipitate prepared by hot-water treatment performed under parallel vibration for 5 h. The shape of the resulting precipitates was also influenced by the content of TiO₂ in the SiO₂·TiO₂ coating, with a smaller proportion of TiO₂ increasing the aspect ratio of the resulting precipitate.