Energy efficiency by low temperature chemical solution deposition of multimetal oxides: potential and limitations

Abstract

Chemical solution deposition is very suitable for the low cost, large area fabrication of a variety of metal oxides, ranging from dielectrics e.g. niobates and ferroelectrics e.g. PbTiO3 over (semi)conductors e.g. (doped) ZnO or TiO2, to even cathode materials for lithium ion microbatteries e.g. LiMn2O4. Intrinsically, such routes are compatible with printing techniques such as inkjet or spraycoating. Here, we present low(er) temperature routes for metal oxides with practical importance in TCO’s, LIB, or electronics. Insights into the decomposition process and precursor properties based on chemical analysis and feedback from the final material’s functionality, led to several approaches for reducing the processing temperature: 1) nanoparticulate routes which separate the oxide formation and deposition step, 2) molecular precursors, in which the oxide is formed in-situ at low thermal budget after deposition of the precursor on the substrate. Here, focus is on (auto)combustion synthesis as a versatile route to many oxides, starting from either water based or organic solvent based precursors and 3) the use of external activation e.g. by UV radiation. From the study of these approaches, potential and limitations for lowering the deposition temperature by chemical solution deposition are concluded.