Diffusion-limited growth of FTO-nanofilm-coated tin fractals

Highly porous, geometrical complex fractals of 3 nm thick fluorinated tin oxide (FTO) coated tin have been synthesized during a simple anodization. The dimensionality of fractals is 2.95. Quantitative analysis of the FTO nanofilm shows the fluorine content in the FTO film to be as high as 25 atom %. The mechanism of preferential growth of the tin fractals under the influence of the applied electric field during the anodization was explained using a diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) model. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society.