Preparation of Well-Ordered TiO₂ Nanotube Arrays by Electrochemical Anodization of Titanium Foil in Neutral Electrolytes

Abstract:

To obtain high performance TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNAs)-based material is interesting because of its wide applications in photocatalysis field such as solar energy conversion, photocatalysis and sensors. In the present work, the well-ordered TNAs were prepared by electrochemical anodization of titanium foil in the SO₄²⁻/F⁻ based electrolyte under 20 V for 2 h during which the Ti foil and Pt wire were used as anode and cathode, respectively. The FESEM results showed that the as-obtained TNAs were well-aligned on Ti substrate with ~ 1.5 μm in length and ~ 100 nm pore in diameter. The XRD results indicated that the as-formed TNAs was in the form of amorphous and could be transformed into crystalline anatase phase under the heat treatment at 450 °C. Meanwhile, the UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra demonstrated that the band-gap of the obtained TNAs was narrower than the commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles, indicating a better photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared TNAs over the commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 233-235)
• Pages: 2047-2050
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.233-235.2047
• Online since: May 2011
• Authors: Chao Wang, Da Chen, Shu Liu, Xia Ni Huang, Yue Xiang Huang, Kang Ying Shu
• Keywords: Electrochemical Anodization, Nanotube Array, TiO₂

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