Large-area release and transfer of ultrathin, freestanding nanocrystalline ceria films

Methods for fully releasing ultrathin ceria films onto an aqueous solution interface, and transferring the film onto arbitrary substrates are presented. The area of the released and transferred film is virtually unlimited, and the release procedure completely avoids etching steps which can be slow and contaminating. Transfer of the ceria film from one substrate to another substrate takes <10 min. Furthermore, the procedure is most-likely applicable to a wide array of sample configurations. The possibility of applying the procedure to other materials and film dimensions is discussed. This method will be extremely useful for research and development of thin oxide films and membranes, and has potential for larger scale production. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.