Towards bottom-up nanopatterning of Prussian blue analogues

Ordered nanoperforated TiO₂ monolayers fabricated through sol–gel chemistry were used to grow isolated particles of Prussian blue analogues (PBA). The elaboration of the TiO₂/CoFe PBA nanocomposites involves five steps. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) all along the synthesis process. Selected physico-chemical parameters have been varied in order to determine the key steps of the synthesis process and to optimize it. This study is an important step towards the full control of the fabrication process.