Preparation of titania nanotubes and their environmental applications as electrode

Titanium oxide nanotubes were successfully grown from a titanium plate by direct anodic oxidation with 0.2 wt % hydrofluoric acid being the supporting electrolyte. These nanotubes are of uniform size and are well-aligned into high-density arrays. They look like honeywell with the structure similar to that of porous alumina obtained by the same technique. TiO2 anatase phase was identified by X-ray diffraction. Significant blue-shift in the spectrum of UV-vis absorption was observed. The mechanism of the novel, simple, and direct growth of the nanotubes was postulated. To investigate their potentials in environmental applications, degradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in aqueous solution was carried out using photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) processes, comparing with electrochemical process (EP) and photocatalytic (PC). A significant photoelectrochemical synergetic effect was observed. The kinetic constant of PEC degradation of PCP using TiO2 nanotubes electrode was 86.5% higher than that using TiO2 film electrode. In degrading PCP, 70% of TOC was removed using the TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 50% removed using TiO2 film electrode formed by sol-gel method in 4 h under similar conditions.