Yan Wang, Yucheng Wu, Yongqiang Qin
Apr 7, 2011
Citations
0
Influential Citations
70
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Abstract
Abstract Highly ordered TiO 2 nanotube arrays prepared by anodic oxidation have attracted increasing research interests due to their promising applications in many scientific areas. To the best of our knowledge, a factor limiting the application of TiO 2 nanotube arrays was their long sustaining reaction time by anodic oxidation, usually lasting 6–12 h and even longer when synthesizing thicker nanotubular layers. In the present paper, we reported for the first time a facile but effective approach to accelerate the anodic formation of TiO 2 nanotube arrays by proper addition of sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ) into the anodization electrolyte. We adopted the 0.3 M NH 4 F + 0.03 M Na 2 CO 3 + EG (ethylene glycol) + 3.0 vol.% H 2 O electrolyte and the average growth rate of the nanotubes achieved in our experiments could be accelerated to 1100 nm/min. The possible mechanism of the rapid electrochemical process was also presented.