A UV-absorber bismuth(III)-N-methyldiethanolamine complex as a low-temperature precursor for bismuth-based oxide thin films

Novel synthetic methods in solution that reduce the formation temperature of bismuth-based electronic oxides are essential for their successful integration with substrates of low thermal stability within microand flexible-electronic devices. This has become crucial for these oxides, since they appear as promising low-toxic functional materials alternative to other electronic oxides containing heavy metals. However, this is a challenge, since the crystallization of bismuth oxides occurs at high temperatures. To overcome these problems, we synthesize here a UV-absorber charge transfer metal complex in solution between the Bi(III) ion and an alkanolamine, N-methyldiethanolamine (Bi(III)–mdea). We take advantage of the photoreactivity of this complex to prepare bismuth-based oxide thin films at low temperature, which cannot be achieved by traditional thermal processing methods. Room temperature stable oxide thin films of the high-temperature d-Bi2O3 phase are prepared from these solutions by UV-irradiation and annealing at 350 C. The efficiency of this synthetic strategy is additionally proven for the low temperature preparation of thin films of much more complex bismuth based functional oxides: the multiferroic bismuth ferrite, BiFeO3, and the relaxor-ferroelectric perovskite of bismuth, sodium and barium titanate, (Bi0.5Na0.5)0.945Ba0.055TiO3

A UV-absorber bismuth(III)-N-methyldiethanolamine complex as a low-temperature precursor for bismuth-based oxide thin films

© the Partner Organisations 2014. Novel synthetic methods in solution that reduce the formation temperature of bismuth-based electronic oxides are essential for their successful integration with substrates of low thermal stability within micro- and flexible-electronic devices. This has become crucial for these oxides, since they appear as promising low-toxic functional materials alternative to other electronic oxides containing heavy metals. However, this is a challenge, since the crystallization of bismuth oxides occurs at high temperatures. To overcome these problems, we synthesize here a UV-absorber charge transfer metal complex in solution between the Bi(iii) ion and an alkanolamine, N-methyldiethanolamine (Bi(iii)-mdea). We take advantage of the photoreactivity of this complex to prepare bismuth-based oxide thin films at low temperature, which cannot be achieved by traditional thermal processing methods. Room temperature stable oxide thin films of the high-temperature δ-Bi2O3 phase are prepared from these solutions by UV-irradiation and annealing at 350 °C. The efficiency of this synthetic strategy is additionally proven for the low temperature preparation of thin films of much more complex bismuth based functional oxides: the multiferroic bismuth ferrite, BiFeO3, and the relaxor-ferroelectric perovskite of bismuth, sodium and barium titanate, (Bi0.5Na0.5)0.945Ba0.055TiO3. This journal isThis work was financed by the Spanish Project MAT2010-15365 and MAT2013-40489. D. Pérez-Mezcua acknowledges the financial support of the FPU Spanish program (AP2012-0639 Grant). I. Bretos and C. De Dobbelaere are postdoctoral fellows financed by the Juan de la Cierva Spanish Programme and the Fund for Scientific Research of Flanders (FWO), respectively.Peer Reviewe

A UV-absorber bismuth(III)-N-methyldiethanolamine complex as a low-temperature precursor for bismuth-based oxide thin films

Novel synthetic methods in solution that reduce the formation temperature of bismuth-based electronic oxides are essential for their successful integration with substrates of low thermal stability within microand flexible-electronic devices. This has become crucial for these oxides, since they appear as promising low-toxic functional materials alternative to other electronic oxides containing heavy metals. However, this is a challenge, since the crystallization of bismuth oxides occurs at high temperatures. To overcome these problems, we synthesize here a UV-absorber charge transfer metal complex in solution between the Bi(III) ion and an alkanolamine, N-methyldiethanolamine (Bi(III)–mdea). We take advantage of the photoreactivity of this complex to prepare bismuth-based oxide thin films at low temperature, which cannot be achieved by traditional thermal processing methods. Room temperature stable oxide thin films of the high-temperature d-Bi2O3 phase are prepared from these solutions by UV-irradiation and annealing at 350 C. The efficiency of this synthetic strategy is additionally proven for the low temperature preparation of thin films of much more complex bismuth based functional oxides: the multiferroic bismuth ferrite, BiFeO3, and the relaxor-ferroelectric perovskite of bismuth, sodium and barium titanate, (Bi0.5Na0.5)0.945Ba0.055TiO3