Iranian Journal of Physics Research

Morphological engineering of two-dimensional inverse opal TiO₂ structures via modification of polymeric masks using Argon plasma jet irradiation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Farzaneh Bayat
Zahra Sadeghi Farshi
Mohsen Mohammadnejad

Department of Physics, Science Faculty, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University

https://doi.org/10.47176/ijpr.26.1.12224
Abstract
In this study, the effect of argon plasma jet irradiation on two-dimensional polymeric opals and its role in engineering inverse opal TiO₂ structures was investigated. Two-dimensional opals were fabricated from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microspheres via a self-assembly method at the air-liquid interface and subsequently exposed to atmospheric-pressure argon plasma. The influence of the plasma–sample distance and irradiation time on the morphological evolution of the structures was systematically examined. The TiO₂ precursor was infiltrated into the opal templates before and after plasma treatment, and after removal of the polymer mask, inverse opal TiO₂ structures were obtained. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) revealed that at a 4 mm distance, increasing irradiation time from 3 to 8 minutes caused a continuous reduction in microsphere diameter and gradual deterioration of hexagonal order, whereas at a distance of 6 mm, changes were less pronounced, with only a slight reduction in particle size. Analysis of the final TiO₂ structures showed that plasma-treated templates produced smaller pores and thicker walls, leading to a higher TiO₂ filling fraction. However, excessive irradiation induced lattice disorder and wall damage. These results demonstrate that careful adjustment of plasma parameters—distance and exposure time—provides an effective tool for controlling the morphology and structure of inverse opals. The resulting nanostructures, with tunable optical and surface properties, are promising for photonic devices, biosensors, chemical sensors, chromatography, biomedical systems, solar cells, and photocatalytic applications.

Keywords

Two-dimensional inverse opal colloidal crystals, Deposition at the air&ndash
water interface, Monodisperse polymer microspheres, Cold plasma, Surface modification
Subjects
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