The Effect of Acid Treatment and Reactive Temperature on the Formation of TiO2 Nanotubes

TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method from commercial TiO2 in NaOH followed by HCI washing. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmitting electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer Emmet Teller (BET) measurements. The untreated acid samples (pH similar to 12) don't appear nanotubes structure, while acid-treated samples until the pH reached around 2 have approximate diameters of nanotubes of 10 nm. The samples reaction temperature at 135 degrees C appear nanotubes structure while the samples reaction temperature at 150 degrees C have combination of the nanotubes and the samples treatment temperature at 170 degrees C appear both nanotubes structure and particles clumping together. The surface area of the TNTs was 83,5 m(2)/g while the surface area of commercial TiO2 particles was 41 m(2)/g.