Article Cite This: ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2018, 1, 4351−4357
www.acsanm.org
Aerosol Impaction-Driven Assembly System for the Production of Uniform Nanoparticle Thin Films with Independently Tunable Thickness and Porosity Peter Firth†,‡ and Zachary C. Holman*,†,‡ †
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School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, Arizona 85287-5706, United States ‡ Swift Coat, 8501 West Foothill Drive, Peoria, Arizona 85383, United States ABSTRACT: Thin films composed of nanoparticles are used in a variety of applications, from antireflective coatings in photovoltaic modules to antibacterial agents in textiles. In this work, we demonstrate an aerosol-impaction-based process for forming uniform thin films of controllable thickness and porosity on large-area substrates. Through a combination of scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering, and elliposometry, we demonstrate silicon nanoparticle films with independently tunable thicknesses between 50 nm and 3 μm and porosities between 67% and 95%. We further demonstrate the scalability of this process by forming films with
