Preparation of structured sol–gel films using tape casting method

A modification of the tape casting method optimized for preparing either uniform or linearly structured sol–gel films is presented. It is demonstrated that molecular level homogeneous high viscosity sol–gel precursors can be used instead of slurries to prepare surface coatings by the tape casting method. Such method is especially well suited for preparing thick sol–gel films from relatively high viscosity sol precursor materials. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated using linearly structured ATO precursor films.