Branched titania nanotubes through anodization voltage control

Abstract

Titania nanotubes are attractive for many applications such as energy generation, storage and delivery, gas sensing, and water purification. Here, we demonstrate branched titania nanotube formation during potentiostatic anodization of titanium films or foils in a single electrochemical bath by stepping down the anodization voltage V_anod below a threshold value. The linear dependence on the titanium nanotube diameter with V_anod and the lack of nanotube formation for V_anod < 20 V constrains homogeneous branching to occur only V₂ ≤ V₁/√2 − V₀ , where V₁ and V₂ are the initial and final anodization voltages and V₀ is a voltage offset dependent on the anodization bath chemistry. Our technique circumvents the constraints of multi-bath and multi-temperature methods for branching, and provides a versatile means for creating hierarchically sized and/or interconnected titania nanotubes for applications.