Considerable research effort has long been dedicated to depositing TiO2 on various substrates because of its attractive properties such as strong absorption of UV light and photoluminescence, photocatalysis, and optoelectronic conversion. TiO2 micropatterns fabricated on a polymer substrate can be applied in electronic devices, sensors, flexible displays, solar cells, photocatalysts, and microair vehicles.

In this study, we employed the ion beam irradiation technique and the liquid phase deposition (LPD) process in order to obtain TiO2 micropatterns on the surface of PET films. Commercial PET films were irradiated with accelerated argon ions through a pattern mask to create patterns of hydrophilic/hydrophobic regions on the PET surface. Then, LPD process was applied for the formation of TiO2 patterns. The changes of surface properties were analyzed by using FT-IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and contact angle measurement. The crystalline structure of the formed TiO2 particles was investigated by using X-ray diffraction analysis.