Electrophoretic Synthesis of Titanium Oxide Nanotubes

In the current research project, sol-gel electrophoresis technique was utilized to grow titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes. A titanium sol was prepared using organometallic precursors of titanium to fill the template channels. The prepared solwas driven into nanopores of porous anodic aluminum oxide templates under the influence of a DC electric field to form nanotubes on the pore walls. Tube formation was occured after chemical etching of the template pores with phosphoric acid. The simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) of the titanium gel determined the onset temperature for the anatase TiO2 crystallization. After the firing step, the phase structure of the produced nanotubes was evaluated based on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (SEM and EDX) studies showed that TiO2 nanotubes with uniform size and shape have been electrophoretically grown in the aluminum oxide template channels.