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Wet processing for the fabrication of ceramic thin films on plastics

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Abstract

Development of a versatile technique for fabricating ceramic thin films on plastics has long been a challenge for those who aim at providing the surface of lightweight, flexible plastics a variety of functions. Wet processing techniques that have been reported so far on the fabrication of ceramic thin films on plastics are reviewed in this article. The techniques include crystalline nanoparticle deposition, liquid phase deposition, sol-gel method and chemical solution deposition (CSD). In these techniques, the issue of how to crystallize and/or densify the films on plastic substrates without firing has been focused on, and it would be recognized that great efforts have been made on this issue. Self-combustion of CSD thin films is also introduced, which only requires heat treatment at low temperatures for films to be crystallized. Finally a transfer process that our group has proposed recently is presented, which is unique in that the crystallization and densification are guaranteed by a firing step.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by MEXT (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), and High-Tech Research Center Project for Private Universities), JST (A-STEP FS-Stage, and Highway for Promoting the Utilization of Intellectual Properties), NSG Foundation, and Expenditures for Supporting Establishment of Research Centers, Kansai University. The author thanks Ms. Mayu Yoki, Mr. Takatoshi Akase, Dr. Akihiro Yamano, Mr. Takafumi Fukui and Mr. Mitsuru Takahashi, who performed the experimental work on the transfer technique at Kansai University. The author also thanks Dr. Hiroaki Uchiyama, Kansai University for his fruitful experimental suggestions.

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Kozuka, H. Wet processing for the fabrication of ceramic thin films on plastics. Journal of Materials Research 28, 673–688 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.13

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