Thickness Controlled Physical Properties of Chemically Synthesized Nanostructured Calcite Thin Films

The present work reports the synthesis of nanostructured thin films on glass substrate by dip coating. The thickness of thin film was varied by varying the no. of dips of glass substrate in the aqueous solution of Ca(NO3)(2).4H(2)O and NaOH. Deposited films were studied by the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy techniques. The thickness of film was increased almost linearly with number of dips. Accordingly, the nanocrystalline size and band gap was varied. Interestingly the nanoflower like structure of calcite thin films was observed in FESEM and that varied with the thickness of film. The calcite thin film formation was discussed in terms of reactivity due to nanostructure and surface structure was discussed in terms of nucleation and growth of film on the substrate. Finally, the implications of these results in terms of microstructurally tuned nano calcite thin films development for prospective futuristic industrial applications are highlighted.