Optimization of Electrophoretic Deposition Parameters for Uniform ZnO Deposition on Conductive Glass Substrate

This investigation is about the Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD) of ZnO nanoparticles on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. The EPD processing is conducted via electrophoretic deposition to get a uniform crack-free, smooth deposition of ZnO nanoparticle which is important to develop various electronics device applications, oxide nano-rods, carbon nanotube film, functionally graded ceramics, layered ceramics, superconductors, piezoelectric materials, DSSC solar cell etc. It is always being a challenge to get a well-developed deposition of nano-particles. This study shows that smoother deposition can be achieved by controlling the deposition voltage, deposition time and deposition distance and bring out that optimum condition. In addition, a comparative study has been presented between ZnO and TiO2 films deposited under the same parameter variations. Deposition voltage, duration, and distance are the three prime key factors which regulate the deposition amount and quality for the ZnO nanoparticle film have been optimized in this investigation. The amount of deposition increases with the deposition time and voltage where the precursor concentration remains unchanged. On the other hand, the amount of deposition decreases by increasing the distance between the electrodes. All the data and the surface morphology of the deposition indicates that the deposition voltage of 60 V, deposition time of 60 s and deposition distance of 1.2 cm are the optimized deposition condition for the deposition of ZnO nanoparticles. The comparative investigation shows that the amount of the deposition for ZnO nanoparticle is lower compared to TiO2 nanoparticle whereas the ZnO nanoparticle offers a relatively smooth and crack-free deposition compare to TiO2 nanoparticle.