EXAFS study of thin film of zirconium oxide deposited on TiO2 surface

Zirconium oxide was deposited on titania surface with zirconium alkoxide in a toluene solution and the structure of thus prepared sample was characterized by means of EXAFS. Fourier transforms of Zr K edge EXAFS show that by the three times deposition of Zr cations surface species are present as amorphous state while by the four times depositions monoclinic ZrO2 species is present as suggested by XRD pattern. The result obtained from curve-fitting procedure for the Zr-O shells indicates that the environment of zirconium cations in the sample prepared by the three times deposition are almost the same as that found in monoclinic phase. On the other hand, by the two times depositions, zirconium oxide species is supported over titania carrier as a two-dimensional species