Synthesis of Different TiO2 Nanostructures and Their Physical Properties

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanosheet, nanorod and nanotubes are synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and anodizing processes. TiO2 nanosheets are grown on Ti foil which is coated with Au catalyst in CVD, TiO2 nanorods are synthesized on treated Ti foil with HCl by CVD, and TiO2 nanotubes are prepared by the three-step anodization method. Scanning electron microscopy shows the final TiO2 structures prepared using three processes with three different morphologies of nanosheet, nanorod and nanotube. X-ray diffraction verifies the presence of TiO2. TiO2 sheets and rods are crystalized in rutile phase, and TiO2 tubes after annealing turn into the anatase crystal phase. The optical investigations carried out by diffuse reflection spectroscopy reveal that the morphology of TiO2 nanostructures influencing their optical response and band gap energy of TiO2 is changed for different TiO2 nanostructures.