Formation mechanism of TiO2 nanotubes

Transmission electron microscopic observation showed that TiO2 nanotubes synthesized via a simple hydrothermal chemical process formed a crystalline structure with open-ended and multiwall morphologies. Unlike multiwalled carbon nanotubes, the TiO2 nanotube walls were not seamless. During alkali treatment, crystalline TiO2 raw material underwent delamination in the alkali solution to produce single-layer TiO2 sheets. TiO2 nanotubes were formed by rolling up the single-layer TiO2 sheets with a rolling-up vector of [001] and attracting other sheets to surround the tubes. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.