Low-Temperature Growth of Rutile Nanorod Thin Films and their Photon-Induced Property

Thin films of well-crystallized pure rutile nanorods were deposited on Ti substrates through a simple solution approach at a low temperature of 353 K. Field emission scanning electron microscopic and atomic force microscopic investigations revealed topographies of both quasi-aligned and less-aligned nanorod arrays, depending on Ti grain facets. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra analysis verified that the deposited nanorod thin film was phase-pure rutile. This rutile nanorod was identified to be single crystalline growing along the [001] direction by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra estimated a remarkable red shift in responsive light for the nanorods when compared with that of bulk rutile. Under illumination of artificial solar light, the ability of the rutile nanorod film to aid photodegradation of rhodamine B in water was argued to be superior to the rutile nanoparticles isolated from commercial Degussa P25, which was attributed to the unique rod-like nanostructure.