Rare earth doped titanium dioxide has been recently obtained an extensive attention in the scientific community due to their photonic properties. These optical properties are necessary to develop devices in the photovoltaic, microelectronics and biomedical fields. However, the effect of rare earth doping on mechanical properties of oxides remain unclear. In this work, we study the hardness and elastic modulus of titanium dioxide doped with different concentration of neodymium (Nd).We first study the morphology,structure and wettability of TiO2Nd films by atomic force microscopy ,X-ray diffraction (XRD) and contact angle (CA). After we measure the mechanical properties by nanoindentation and finally, we correlate hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) with the phase and the crystallite dimension of the films. Surprisingly the incorporation of low concentration of Nd in the TiO2 matrix increase of 50% the mechanical properties of coatings. This enhancement of hardness is due to the structural change of TiO2 matrix induced by neodymium.
Nd-doped TiO2 Properties and Applications
Bartali, Ruben;Micheli, Victor;Gottardi, Gloria;Bensaada Laidani, Nadhira
2014-01-01
Abstract
Rare earth doped titanium dioxide has been recently obtained an extensive attention in the scientific community due to their photonic properties. These optical properties are necessary to develop devices in the photovoltaic, microelectronics and biomedical fields. However, the effect of rare earth doping on mechanical properties of oxides remain unclear. In this work, we study the hardness and elastic modulus of titanium dioxide doped with different concentration of neodymium (Nd).We first study the morphology,structure and wettability of TiO2Nd films by atomic force microscopy ,X-ray diffraction (XRD) and contact angle (CA). After we measure the mechanical properties by nanoindentation and finally, we correlate hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) with the phase and the crystallite dimension of the films. Surprisingly the incorporation of low concentration of Nd in the TiO2 matrix increase of 50% the mechanical properties of coatings. This enhancement of hardness is due to the structural change of TiO2 matrix induced by neodymium.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
