We report a photochemical strategy for fabricating mesoporous TiO2 thin films that combines deep-UV (193 nm) photolithography with block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly. This dual top-down/bottom-up approach enables direct patterning and mineralization at room temperature, without thermal annealing, offering a scalable and energy-efficient alternative to conventional sol-gel processing. By tailoring the BCP concentration, titanium-to-ethylene oxide molar ratio, and polymer architecture, we achieved highly uniform mesoporous monolayers with tunable pore size and film thickness. FTIR and SEM analyses confirm the selective degradation of the PS and PEO blocks under UV exposure. Notably, the PEO degradation is significantly enhanced in the presence of titanium oxo-clusters, attributed to the photocatalytic activity of the Ti precursor under DUV irradiation. We further demonstrate spatially controlled structuring via photolithographic masks, enabling micro- and nanopatterned oxide films with hierarchical architectures. This method allows for precise control over both porosity and lateral geometry, expanding the design space for functional oxide coatings. Our findings open new avenues for the fabrication of advanced hierarchical TiO2-based materials for applications in photonics, sensing, and nanotechnology, while contributing to the broader development of low-temperature, light-assisted material processing.

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a multifunctional polymer renowned for its unique electrical, mechanical, and piezoelectric properties, making it an attractive candidate for various applications. Although the spin-coating method has been the conventional method for fabricating PVDF thin films, this work is the first to apply the dip-coating technique with humidity control, which is a largely unexplored method in the literature on PVDF thin films. This novel approach offers great prospects for improved control and performance adjustments, as well as expanding the range of film deposition procedures. Here, we examine the phase composition of PVDF thin films; adjust different parameters to optimize the electroactive phases fraction, especially the Beta phase; and examine how relative humidity affects the properties of the film. Moreover, we test the impact of different nanoparticles’ addition on the phases fraction and characteristics of the film. Furthermore, we analyze the topography of the resultant films using several approaches, providing fresh insights into their structural features.

Near‐infrared (NIR) laser annealing is successfully used to crystallize TiO 2 thin films from a sol–gel solution deposited on gold nanoparticle arrays (AuNPs). The AuNPs are used as nano‐heaters allowing a local temperature increase up to 500 °C in the film. The temperature reached under the laser is deduced from the presence of the anatase phase in the samples obtained by laser exposure, showing that crystallized TiO 2 can be obtained by the photothermal effect. Different analytical techniques supported this study, such as grazing X‐ray diffraction (GIXRD), UV–vis, and Raman spectroscopy. The temperature increase is confirmed by a numerical model that emphasizes the role of NPs coupling in the photothermal effect. Direct laser patterning by NIR laser and in combination with Deep‐UV photolithography (DUV) are demonstrated. This fabrication method opens new perspectives in applications such as photonics, photocatalysis, or biosensing.

New anodes consisting of zirconium-doped PbO2 coating, growth on titanium dioxide interlayer, were deposited on titanium substrates using spin coating method and have been tested for the removal of ampicillin, a β-lactam antibiotic, from water. Morphological, structural, and electrochemical properties of the prepared coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS). Results showed that the incorporation of zirconium dopant had a noticeable modification in the morphology of anodes. An increase in the surface roughness and the specific active area were observed with Ti/TiO2/PbO2- 10

Photolithography is a core part in microelectronic processes. This technological step implies the use of numerous hazardous carcinogenic compounds in the formulations, the use of solvents for processing synthetic polymers to obtain micro and nanostructures. We proposed the use of chitosan-based biosourced water-soluble resins to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the photolithography step, for 193 nm photolithography. We show in this report that chitosan-based photoresist is suitable for microelectronic application, and in particular, we could significantly improve photosensitivity by adding a water-soluble photoacid generator (PAG). UV-visible and Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance characterizations reveal an increase of the macromolecular chain scission kinetics in the presence of PAG. Moreover, the local decrease of the pH favors the solubility of chitosan in irradiated areas. Finally, the photolithography tests demonstrate that the dose to clear and the optimal dose for photopatterning are divided by a factor of two. Moreover, the physical etching transfer tests show that the presence of PAG does not decrease the transfer performance, making these aqueous-based formulated resins still more adapted for the fabrication of microelectronic devices.

Lead dioxide-based electrodes have shown a great performance in the electrochemical treatment of organic wastewater. In the present study, modified PbO2 anodes supported on stainless steel (SS) with a titanium oxide interlayer such as SS/TiO2/PbO2 and SS/TiO2/PbO2-10% Boron (B) were prepared by the sol–gel spin-coating technique. The morphological and structural properties of the prepared electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the SS/TiO2/PbO2-10% B anode led to a rougher active surface, larger specific surface area, and therefore stronger ability to generate powerful oxidizing agents. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements showed that the modified PbO2 anodes displayed a lower charge transfer resistance Rct. The influence of the introduction of a TiO2 intermediate layer and the boron doping of a PbO2 active surface layer on the electrochemical degradation of ampicillin (AMP) antibiotic have been investigated by chemical oxygen demand measurements and HPLC analysis. Although HPLC analysis showed that the degradation process of AMP with SS/PbO2 was slightly faster than the modified PbO2 anodes, the results revealed that SS/TiO2/PbO2-10%B was the most efficient and economical anode toward the pollutant degradation due to its physico-chemical properties. At the end of the electrolysis, the chemical oxygen demand (COD), the average current efficiency (ACE) and the energy consumption (EC) reached, respectively, 69.23%, 60.30% and 0.056 kWh (g COD)−1, making SS/TiO2/PbO2-10%B a promising anode for the degradation of ampicillin antibiotic in aqueous solutions.

Micro- and nanopatterning of metal oxide materials is an important process to develop electronic or optoelectronic devices. ZnO is a material of choice for its semiconducting and photoluminescence properties. We have developed and investigated a new process that relies on direct write laser patterning in the DUV range to prepare photoluminescent microstructures of ZnO at room temperature, under air. This process is based on a synthesis of colloidal ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) with a careful choice of the ligands on the surface to obtain an optimal (i) stability of the colloids, (ii) redissolution of the non-insolated parts and (iii) cross-linking of the DUV-insolated parts. The mechanisms of photocrosslinking are studied by different spectroscopic methods. This room temperature process preserves the photoluminescence properties of the NCs and the wavelength used in DUV allows to reach a sub-micrometer resolution, which opens new perspectives for the integration of microstructures on flexible substrates for opto-electronic applications. We also show that this concept can be extended to other metal oxide nanoparticles.

Xerogel thin films were prepared from solution of titanium alkoxides (Ti(OiPr)4) complexed with methacrylic acid (MAA) with different molar ratios. The impact of this parameter on their sensitivity to deep-ultraviolet (DUV) was studied. The chemical modifications were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy in ATR mode, and the optical characterization was done by spectroscopic ellipsometry. In this report, condensation of Ti precursor is induced by exposure to DUV which was demonstrated to be less efficient for low MAA:Ti ratios due to lower substitution degrees. More importantly, the chemical resistance to solvent of thin films can be tuned, which is crucial for photolithography applications. To illustrate this, DUV lithography was performed on thin films for two different MAA:Ti ratios and developed with cyclohexanone and ethanol, giving rise to opposite results. Finally, microstructures by DUV were achieved for solutions with the lowest protection degree.

In the frame of the nanoarchitectonic concept, the objective of this study was to develop simple and easy methods to ensure the preparation of polymorphic HfO2 thin film materials (<200 nm) having the best balance of patterning potential, reproducibility and stability to be used in optical, sensing or electronic fields. The nanostructured HfO2 thin films with micropatterns or continuous morphologies were synthesized by two different methods, i.e., the micropatterning of sol-gel solutions by deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography or the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of HfO2 nanoparticles (HfO2-NPs). Amorphous and monoclinic HfO2 micropatterned nanostructured thin films (HfO2-DUV) were prepared by using a sol-gel solution precursor (HfO2-SG) and spin-coating process following by DUV photolithography, whereas continuous and dense monoclinic HfO2 nanostructured thin films (HfO2-EPD) were prepared by the direct EPD of HfO2-NPs. The HfO2-NPs were prepared by a hydrothermal route and studied through the changing aging temperature, pH and reaction time parameters to produce nanocrystalline particles. Subsequently, based on the colloidal stability study, suspensions of the monoclinic HfO2-NPs with morphologies near spherical, spindle- and rice-like shapes were used to prepare HfO2-EPD thin films on conductive indium-tin oxide-coated glass substrates. Morphology, composition and crystallinity of the HfO2-NPs and thin films were investigated by powder and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The EPD and DUV photolithography performances were explored and, in this study, it was clearly demonstrated that these two complementary methods are suitable, simple and effective processes to prepare controllable and tunable HfO2 nanostructures as with homogeneous, dense or micropatterned structures.

Les matériaux semi-conducteurs ont des propriétés optoélectroniques intéressantes pour de nombreuses applications microélectroniques. Leur introduction sous forme de films minces sur des substrats fragiles, tels que du verre fin, des feuilles de plastique souple ou des pièces imprimées en 3D, permet de créer de nouveaux matériaux intelligents en introduisant des capteurs ou des photodétecteurs. Dans cet article, nous illustrons l’intérêt de nouvelles approches basées sur des technologies laser et une chimie sol-gel pour intégrer des matériaux fonctionnels inorganiques semi-conducteurs ou diélectriques, dans des procédés rapides, agiles, avec des résolutions spatiales aux échelles micro et nanométriques.

Micro- and nanopatterning of metal oxide materials is an important process to develop electronic or optoelectronic devices. ZnO is a material of choice for its semiconducting and photoluminescence properties. In the frame of the nanoarchitectonics concept, we have developed and investigated a new process that relies on direct writing laser patterning in the Deep-UV (DUV) range to prepare photoluminescent microstructures of ZnO at room temperature, under air. This process is based on a synthesis of colloidal ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) with a careful choice of the ligands on the surface to obtain an optimal (i) stability of the colloids, (ii) redissolution of the non-insolated parts and (iii) cross-linking of the DUV-insolated parts. The mechanisms of photocrosslinking are studied by different spectroscopic methods. This room temperature process preserves the photoluminescence properties of the NCs and the wavelength used in DUV allows to reach a sub-micrometer resolution, which opens new perspectives for the integration of microstructures on flexible substrates for optoelectronic applications.

The development of environmentally friendly materials and processes is a major issue that concerns all industrial sectors, including microelectronics. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the possibility of using chitosan-based photoresists for microelectronic applications on silicon by 193 nm photolithography. The photopatterning of chitosan films is demonstrated and analyzed by different spectroscopy and microscopy techniques. In particular, it is shown that 193 nm irradiation allows one to induce chain breaks that modify the solubility of chitosan in an aqueous developing solution, without denaturing the chitosan macromolecule chains. This mechanism allows one to obtain patterns, and it is shown that these patterns can be transferred by physical etching into silica. It is also demonstrated that the formulated resins are compatible with industrial spin-coating and exposure tools, which opens very interesting perspectives for these chitosan-based positive resins in a microelectronic context.

The effect of stainless steel (SS) electrode shape on electrochemical treatment of pharmaceutical pollutant has been studied. Anodes consisting of SS plate and SS grid coated with lead dioxide (PbO2) were prepared by different deposition techniques: electrodeposition (ED), sol gel method (SG) using spin-coating (SC) and dip-coating (DC) depending on the electrode shape. The influence of the substrate shape and the deposition method on the oxidizing performance of the elaborated electrode was studied. The surface morphology and the composition of the PbO2 layer were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD analysis revealed the presence of β-PbO2 form with both deposition techniques in addition to the chromium (Cr) phase attributed to the SS substrate. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were performed for assessing the electrochemical behavior of the SS/PbO 2 anodes. EIS results demonstrated a smaller charge transfer resistance with PbO2 ED coating compared to PbO2 SG. The degradation of ampicillin as pharmaceutical pollutant was evaluated with high performance liquid chromatography and chemical oxygen demand (COD) for overall mineralization of organic matter and to evaluate the related average current efficiency (ACE) and energy consumption (EC). This study demonstrated that SSgrid/PbO2ED is the most efficient electrode for electrochemical treatment with 100% of ampicillin removal after 120 min of treatment.

The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au nanoparticles (NPs) was used to monitor photopolymerization at the nanoscale by in situ monitoring the optical response of AuNPs during the light-induced polymerization process. To show the interest of this approach, two configurations were used, which correspond to a resonant and a nonresonant excitation regime between the photopolymer and the AuNPs used as nanoprobes. We show that not only this method enables the progress monitoring of the photopolymerization reaction at the nanometric scale but also can highlight the near-field coupling effect responsible for the acceleration of the photoinduced reaction. This methodology appears very interesting to study the photoinduced nanofabrication processes of metal/polymer hybrid nanoparticles and more globally to study the photopolymerization reactions at the nanometric scale.

This paper is aimed at investigating the process of photocrosslinking under Deep-UV irradiation of nanocomposite thin films doped with cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). This material is composed of a hybrid sol–gel matrix in which MNP can be introduced with high concentrations up to 20 vol%. Deep-UV (193 nm) is not only interesting for high-resolution patterning but we also show an efficient photopolymerization pathway even in the presence of high concentration of MNPs. In this study, we demonstrate that the photocrosslinking is based on the free radical polymerization of the methacrylate functions of the hybrid precursor. This process is initiated by Titanium-oxo clusters. The impact of the nanoparticles on the photopolymerization kinetic and photopatterning is investigated. We finally show that the photosensitive nanocomposite is suitable to obtain micropatterns with sub-micron resolution, with a simple and versatile process, which opens many opportunities for fabrication of miniaturized magneto-optical devices for photonic applications.

A metal-oxide material (indium zinc oxide [IZO]) device with near-infrared (NIR) laser annealing was demonstrated on both glass and bendable plastic substrates (polycarbonate, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate). After only 60 s, the sheet resistance of IZO films annealed with a laser was comparable to that of thermal-annealed devices at temperatures in the range of 200-300 °C (1 h). XPS, ATR, and AFM were used to investigate the changes in the sheet resistance and correlate them to the composition and morphology of the thin film. Finally, the NIR-laser-annealed IZO films were demonstrated to be capable of detecting changes in humidity and serving as a highly sensitive gas sensor of hydrogen sulfide (in ppb concentration), with room-temperature operation on a bendable substrate.