Functionality of aerosol-gel deposited TiO2 thin films processed at low temperature

TiO2 thin films have been deposited using the Aerosol-gel process and heat-treated at low temperature. Functional coatings necessitate reasonably good abrasion resistance in order to support possible damages related to a targeted application. Besides, specific applications of TiO2 films require additional criteria, e. g. a tailored refractive index, a controlled chemical composition or a suitable crystallization degree. In this paper, we present several low temperature preparation procedures that answer the different criteria and allow to envisage applications on thermally sensitive substrates.