Effect of polyethylenimine on electrophoretic deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles in alternating current electric field

In this work, AC electric field was applied to deposit TiO₂ nanoparticles dispersed in Acetone on coplanar electrodes. The experiments were performed in presence and absence of an additive, polyethylenimine (PEI), at frequencies of 1 Hz and 10 kHz. It was revealed that deposition pattern changed dramatically by addition of PEI which makes particles to fill the inter electrode gap at both frequencies. When PEI is added, particles show different behavior. While they tend to fill the gap randomly at 1 Hz, they form chainlike pattern at 10 kHz. Chain formation of particles in the gap indicates presence of dielectrophoretic (DEP) forces. The ability of particles to polarize in both suspensions at 10 kHz are calculated by a multi-shell model in order to find DEP force. According to this model, the polarizability for particles in the suspension with PEI is more than the other, so DEP forces applied more strongly on them and promotes chain formation.