Reviews
P. Schmuki et al.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201001374
Nanoscience
TiO2 Nanotubes: Synthesis and Applications
Poulomi Roy, Steffen Berger, and Patrik Schmuki*
Keywords:
anodization · electrochemistry ·
nanotubes · semiconductors ·
titanium dioxide
Angewandte
Chemie
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TiO2 Nanotubes
TiO
is one of the most studied compounds in materials science.
Owing to some outstanding properties it is used for instance in
photocatalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, and biomedical devices. In
1999, first reports showed the feasibility to grow highly ordered arrays
of TiO2 nanotubes by a simple but optimized electrochemical anodization of a titanium metal sheet. This finding stimulated intense
research activities that focused on growth, modification, properties,
and applications of these one-dimensional nanostructures. This review
attempts to cover all these aspects, including underlying principles and
key functional features of TiO2, in a comprehensive way and also
indicates potential future directions of the field.
2
1.1. Introduction
From the Contents
1. 1. Introduction
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2. Electrochemical Anodization
and Self-Organization
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3. Properties of TiO2 and TiO2
Nanotubes
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4. Modification of Tube Properties 2920
5. Oxide Nanotube Layers on
Other Transition Metals and
Alloys
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6. Applications
2927
1.1. Why TiO2 Nanotubes?
Ever since Iijima discovered carbon nanotubes,[1] this
combination of extreme molecular geometry and exciting
properties has not only inspired the field of nanotechnology
but also triggered enormous efforts in physics, chemistry, and
materials science. These one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures provide unique electronic properties, such as high
electron mobility or quantum confinement effects, a very high
specific surface area, and even show a very high mechanical
strength.[2–4] Although carbon is still the most explored
nanotube material, a considerable range of other materials,
which are mainly transition metal oxides and sulfides, have
been synthesized in a 1D or virtually 1D geometry (nanowires, nanorods, nanofibers, or nanotubes) and have also
shown fascinating new properties and features.[2, 5–8]
While carbon nanotubes are mainly explored for their use
in microelectronic technology, inorganic nanotubes (especially metal sulfides or oxides) are mostly fabricated to exploit
other material-specific properties, and the focus of interest is
on biomedical, photochemical, electrical, and environmental
applications.[5–18] Among all transition-metal oxides, TiO2 is
the most extensively studied material (with more than 40 000
publications over the past 10 years), which makes TiO2 to one
of the most investigated compounds in materials science. Bulk
TiO2 is known to be a very useful non-toxic, environmentally
friendly, corrosion-resistant material: it is frequently used in
paint, white pigments, and sun-blockers. The key functional
features are, however, exceptional biocompatibility (use in
medicine) and even more the almost unique ionic and
electronic properties of this oxide. TiO2 in all its crystal
forms is a wide-bandgap semiconductor (Eg 3 eV) with
suitable band-edge positions that enable its use in solar cells
and for photocatalytic reactions. Photogenerated electron–
hole pairs can be used for splitting water into oxygen and
hydrogen (potentially the fuel of the future), or can be used
for the remediation of hazardous wastes, such as contaminated ground waters, or the control of toxic air contaminants.[19–21] Historically, some milestones were certainly the
reports by Fujishima and Honda in 1972 on water splitting on
a TiO2 electrode,[22] and the works by Gerischer and
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
Tributsch,[23] Dare-Edwards et al.,[24] and Grtzel and
ORegan[25] that introduced the use of the material for solar
energy conversion in the 80s and 90s.[26] Over the past
20 years, the palette of potential applications has been
widened towards devices with increasingly sophisticated
photovoltaic, electrochromic, antifogging, or self-cleaning
properties, biomedical coatings, sensors, or smart-surface
coatings.[27–39]
For many of these applications, it is crucial to maximize
the specific surface area (which is, for example, obvious for
any catalytic reaction) to achieve a maximum overall
efficiency, and therefore nanoparticulated forms of TiO2 are
widely used. However, other nanosize geometries, and in
particular nanotubes or nanorods, may allow for a much
higher control of the chemical or physical behavior. By
diminishing dimensions to the nanoscale, not only the specific
surface area increases significantly but also the electronic
properties may change considerably (owing for example to
quantum size effects, strong contribution of surface reconstruction, or surface curvature). These effects may also
contribute to drastically improve the reaction/interaction
between a device and the surrounding media, thereby making
the system more effective (kinetics),[40–43] or even allow for
entirely novel reaction pathways.
Synthesis of 1D TiO2 nanostructures may be achieved by
various routes including sol–gel methods, template-assisted
methods, hydro/solvothermal approaches, and by electrochemical means.[8, 10, 14, 15, 36, 37, 44–58] A brief overview of various
synthesis techniques is given in Section 1.2.
The present review will, however, focus on perhaps the
most spectacular and surprising 1D structure: self-organized
TiO2 nanotube layers. These layers can be formed by a simple
[*] P. Roy, S. Berger, P. Schmuki
Department of Materials Science, WW4-LKO
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Martensstrasse 7, 91058 Erlangen (Germany)
Fax: (+ 49) 9131-852-7582
E-mail: schmuki@ww.uni-erlangen.de
2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Reviews
P. Schmuki et al.
electrochemical oxidation reaction of a metallic titanium
substrate under a specific set of environmental conditions
(Figure 1 a). This type of self-aligned oxide nanotube layers
has attracted considerable interest over the past 10 years.
Currently, the publication rate shows an almost exponential
trend, with more than 1000 papers being published over the
last 3 years. This rate can be ascribed to the fact that these
structures represent a unique combination of the highly
functional features of TiO2 with a regular and controllable
nanoscale geometry (length, tube diameter, and self-ordering
can be adjusted over large length scales). The synthesis is
carried out by a low-cost parallel process: conventional
electrochemical anodization. It is furthermore remarkable
that the self-ordering anodization approach is not limited to
titanium but can be applied to a large range of other transition
metals or alloys to form highly aligned oxide nanotube or
pore structures, which will be addressed more extensively in
Section 5.
In the following sections we will discuss the synthesis of
these nanotubes and means to influence the degree of selforganization, tube length, diameter, and crystal structure of
the tubes. We will introduce specific nanoscale morphologies
that can be achieved (free-standing membranes, nanobamboo, tube stacks, tube-to-pore transitions), show methods to
influence electronic and ionic properties (bandgap engineering, doping), and also biointerface properties. Finally, we give
examples of using these nanotube structures in various
devices and applications.
Figure 1. The electrochemical anodization process and possible anodic
morphologies: a) I) metal electropolishing, II) formation of compact
anodic oxides, III) self-ordered oxides (nanotubes or nanopores),
IV) rapid (disorganized) oxide nanotube formation, V) ordered nanoporous layers. Examples of morphologies of obtained structures:
b) Classical highly organized nanoporous alumina (taken with permission from Ref. [116]), c) highly ordered TiO2 nanotubes (in top and
side view) with dimpled structure (right) on metal surface when tubes
are removed, d) disordered TiO2 nanotubes growing in bundles.
RBA = rapid-breakdown anodization.
1.2. Electrochemical Synthesis versus Other Approaches
This review will focus exclusively on electrochemical
formation of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes in later sections,
Poulomi Roy studied chemistry at Vidyasagar University, India, and obtained her PhD
on Inorganic Nanomaterials from the Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2007.
She joined the group of Prof. Patrik Schmuki
at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany in 2008 as a postdoctoral fellow. Her
research interests include the synthesis of
semiconductor nanomaterials and their application in various energy-related and biomedical fields.
Steffen Berger studied materials science at
the Friedrich Alexander University ErlangenNuremberg, Germany, and obtained his
Diplom in 2005. He completed his PhD in
2009 in the group of Prof. Patrik Schmuki
at the Chair for Surface Science and Corrosion, where he is continuing his research as a
postdoctoral fellow. His research interests
include the synthesis of self-organized nanomaterials by electrochemical methods with
the direction of application in energy conversion and storage devices.
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Patrik Schmuki studied physical chemistry at
the University of Basel and obtained his
PhD from the ETH Zurich in 1992. From
1994 to 1997 he worked at Brookhaven
National Laboratory, USA, and the Institute
for Microstructural Sciences of the National
Research Council of Canada. From 1997
until 2000 he was an Associate Professor for
Microstructuring Materials at EPFL, Switzerland, and since 2000 he has been Full
Professor and Head of the Institute for Surface Science at the Materials Science
Department of the University of ErlangenNuremberg. His current research interests cover electrochemistry and
materials science at the nanoscale, with a particular focus on functional
materials and the control of self-assembly processes.
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TiO2 Nanotubes
but it should be noted that prior and parallel to the
anodization approach, other methods were/are studied to
synthesize TiO2 nanotubes. The first targeted effort to
produce titania nanotubes was probably the work by
Hoyer,[10] who used an electrochemical deposition method
into an ordered alumina template. Later methods mainly
involved other template-assisted methods, sol–gel techniques,
and hydro/solvothermal methods with or without templates[14, 44, 47–50, 52, 56–59] and atomic layer deposition (ALD)
into the template.[60–63] Many of the processes are acidcatalysed hydrolysis reactions of titanium alkoxide precursors
followed by condensation reactions (that is, a gel-type
polymeric TiOTi chain is developed, which then hydrolyzes
and thus results in TiO2 precipitates). For example, TiO2 sol
was sucked into the pores of the alumina template, then a heat
treatment was applied, and afterwards the alumina template
was selectively dissolved out.[52] TiO2 nanoparticles or nanorods are also prepared by using micelle templates of
appropriate surfactants above their critical micelle concentration (the surfactant molecules aggregate and disperse in a
liquid to give so-called spherical or rod-like micelles, which
are used as template for TiO2 preparation). In this approach,
nanotube formation is mostly carried out using water
containing reverse micelles with a cylindrical exterior surface.
The titanium precursor can then react at the micelle surface,
and after removal of the surfactant (burn-off), a nanotube
structure is obtained.[8] Usually TiCl4 or any other titanium
alkoxide solutions are employed as the titanium precursor.
Using certain H2O:micelle ratios[45, 46] allows the crystallite
size to be varied.
Another well-established solution-based method to synthesize 1D TiO2 nanostructures is the hydro/solvothermal
method, which was first reported by Kasuga et al.[14, 47] In this
method, bulk TiO2 powder is treated with NaOH solution in a
Teflon-lined autoclave at 100–150 8C for several hours,
followed by an acid treatment in HCl.[14, 47, 48] The general
formation of the tube geometry is based on exfoliation of
TiO2 crystal planes in the alkali environment and stabilization
as TiONa+. This step is followed by a rolling of the
nanolayer sheets into tubes during cooling or in the HCl
treatment. Some debate exists in literature on the exact cause
for the rolling-up, and several experimental factors are crucial
to indeed obtain a tubular material. Such tubular structures
consist of multishells, with an inner shell diameter of about
5 nm, a shell spacing of less than 1 nm, and an average tube
diameter of about 10 nm. The amount of synthesized nanotubes and also their length (typically several tens to hundred
nanometers) and size distribution depend on the specific
reaction conditions.[48]
In ALD, surfaces of templates (such as porous alumina)
can be coated conformably one atomic layer after the other by
using alternating cycles of exposure to a titania precursor
(such as TiCl4 or Ti(OiPr)4) followed by purging and
hydrolysis.[60–63] While alumina-template approaches allow
nanotubular or rod structures to be formed that are vertically
aligned to the substrate, they involve a sometimes critical
template-removal step.
For other transition-metal oxides, such as WO3, ZnO,
ZrO2, V2O5, Nb2O5, Ta2O5, MnO, and CuO, nanorod or
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
nanotubular structures can also be fabricated using precursor
and template techniques.[64] Applications target such areas as
catalytic, optical, electrical, and mechanical devices and
sensors. For example, CuO, V2O5, and MnO are very often
used as intercalation compounds in lithium ion batteries;[65] in
several cases nanotubes show enhanced electrochemical
properties with both better lithium intercalation capacity
and extraction rate than bulk or powdered materials. WO3
and Nb2O5 are the commonly used oxides in electrochromic
devices, and gas sensors.[66–72]
All these titanium precursor solution/template-based
processes result in single tubes or loose agglomerates of
tubes or bundles that are dispersed in a solution, and often a
wide distribution of tube lengths is obtained. To make use of
the structures in electrically contacted devices, the tubes are
usually compacted into layers on an electrode surface.
However, this process leads to an arbitrary orientation of
the nanotubes on the electrode, which unfortunately eliminates many advantages of the one-dimensional directionality
(for example providing a 1D electron path to the electrode).
In contrast, the electrochemical anodization approach discussed herein is self-organizing: it leads to an array of oxide
nanotubes aligned perpendicular to the substrate surface
(such as in Figure 1) and to a well-defined (and controllable)
tube length. The tubes are attached to the metal surface and
are thus already electrically connected and easy to handle.
The use of an electrochemical anodization method allows
virtually any shape of titanium (and other metal) surfaces to
be coated with a dense and defined nanotube layer and is thus
an extremely versatile parallel (and thus easy to scale up)
structuring process.
Regarding anodic treatments, photoelectrochemical etch
channels were also reported[56–58] and the growth of lessorganized (usually non-substrate-adherent) TiO2 nanotube
bundles has been introduced by Masuda et al.[73] Later this
process was referred to as rapid-breakdown anodization
(RBA)[74] and extended to other electrolytes[73–75] and
metals[74, 76] or metal alloys.[77] Solar-cell applications were
usually targeted.[75, 78, 79] The main advantage of the technique
is that comparably long nanotubes (several 100 mm)[76] can be
grown within very short times (some seconds to minutes; an
example is shown in Figure 1 d). The main disadvantage is
that the tubes are not well-defined regarding length distribution, not well-organized over larger surface areas, and they
are hardly connected to the substrate.
The anodic formation of several 10 mm thick ordered
nanoporous TiO2 layers (structure V in Figure 1 a) with
channels several nanometers to several tens of nanometers
in diameter has been recently reported.[80–83] These nanoscopic morphologies adhere well to the substrate, but to date
they have not been explored extensively in view of achievable
geometries or applications.
2. Electrochemical Anodization and Self-Organization
Self-organized oxide tube arrays or pore arrays can be
obtained by an anodization process of a suitable metal. When
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P. Schmuki et al.
metals are exposed to a sufficiently anodic voltage in an
electrochemical configuration (as in Figure 1), an oxidation
reaction M!Mn+ + n e will be initiated. Depending mainly
on the electrolyte and the particular anodization parameters,
essentially three possibilities for reactions exist (Figure 1):
I) The Mn+ ions are solvatized in the electrolyte; that is, the
metal is continuously dissolved (and corrosion, or electropolishing of the metal, is observed); II) the Mn+ ions formed
react with O2 (provided by H2O in the electrolyte) and form
a compact oxide (MO) layer if MO is not soluble in the
electrolyte; III) under some electrochemical conditions, competition between solvatization and oxide formation is established (leading to porous MO). Under even more specific
experimental conditions, a situation is established where selforganization during the growth of porous oxide takes place;
furthermore, under some specific conditions, disorganized
rapid growth of TiO2 nanotube bundles (IV in Figure 1 a, and
Figure 1 d) or formation of thick self-organized mesoporous
layers (V in Figure 1 a) can be observed.
The best investigated system, in which almost perfect selforganization of pores in oxide can be established, is the
anodic growth of porous Al2O3 on aluminum. Over 50 years
ago,[84] it was realized that upon anodic treatment of
aluminum in neutral to alkaline electrolytes, a flat, compact
oxide would grow, but when anodized in acidic electrolytes
relatively regular porous oxide structures could be grown to
considerable thicknesses (> 100 mm).
Such thick robust porous oxide layers on aluminum were
used for many years in corrosion protection and coloration of
aluminium surfaces.[85, 86] Around 1990, the first reports by
Uosaki et al.[87] and later by Martin [88] appeared that explored
the use of porous alumina as a template for the synthesis of
functional nanomaterials. In 1995, in a ground-breaking
paper, Masuda and Fukuda[89] reported that under specific
experimental conditions, pore growth that shows a very high
degree of self-organization can be achieved (see Figure 1 b).
This finding triggered hundreds of papers dealing with the
modification and use of porous alumina either directly (such
as in filters or for photonic crystals) or indirectly (as a
template for nanorod, nanowire, and nanotube synthesis by
deposition of metal, semiconductor, or polymer materials.[88, 90–93]
Models that try to provide a mechanistic reasoning for the
occurrence of self-organization of porous alumina growth
ascribe the origin to: 1) stress at the metal–oxide interface
(volume expansion/electrostriction),[94, 95] 2) repulsion of electric fields,[96] or 3) establishing maximum current-flow conditions.[97, 98]
As we will describe in the following chapters, many of the
principles and mechanisms for self-organized porous alumina
can be transferred to the formation of self-organized tubes or
pores on other metals, taking into account some specific
differences in the chemical character of the different metal
oxides.
In the light of recent findings we will also show that the
distinction between porous or tubular morphology (as differentiated in Figure 1) is mechanistically not really justified. It
should also be noted that the terminology pores or tubes was
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used in some early work interchangeably; that is, it represents
pure semantics.
2.1. Self-Organized TiO2 Nanotube Arrays
The first self-organized anodic oxides on titanium were
reported for anodization in chromic acid electrolytes containing hydrofluoric acid by Zwilling and co-workers in
1999.[99, 100] This work showed that organized nanotube layers
(although the author called the structure porous) of up to
about 500 nm in thickness. The tube structure was not highly
organized and the tubes showed considerable sidewall
inhomogeneity. It was however recognized that small additions of fluoride ions to an electrolyte are the key to form
these self-organized oxide structures. It is also noteworthy
that in 1979, Kelly et al.[101] explored the influence of fluorides
on the passivity of titanium and concluded that porous oxide
layers formed for low fluoride concentrations, but they did
not perform electron microscopy at a sufficiently high
resolution to resolve the (likely) presence of self-organized
TiO2 nanotube layers.
After 1999, several approaches[102, 103] that used acidic
fluoride-containing electrolytes essentially confirmed Zwillings findings (although the original Zwilling work was not
always properly referenced). This early work established that
the as-formed material is amorphous but may contain some
crystallites,[103] that sidewall inhomogeneity is associated with
current fluctuations,[103] and the limited thickness of the tube
layers was ascribed to a oxide-growth/chemical-dissolution
equilibrium (steady-state).
Most crucial improvements to the geometry of the tubes
were established by Macak et al.[104–106] First, it was demonstrated that the pH plays a crucial role in improving the tube
layer thickness; that is, at neutral pH values, much longer
tubes could be grown[104, 105] (other reports[107] turned out to be
incorrect owing to false scale bars in SEM images). Second, it
was demonstrated that in non-aqueous electrolytes, smooth
tubes without sidewall inhomogeneity (ripples) can be grown
to much higher aspect ratios and show a strongly improved
ordering.[106]
Using organic electrolyte systems, such as ethylene glycol,
almost ideal hexagonally arranged tube layers can be grown
to a thickness of several hundreds of micrometers.[108]
Furthermore, an optimized two-step anodization treatment,
similar to the one reported for porous anodic alumina,[109] can
lead to virtually perfect hexagonally ordered arrays of TiO2
nanotubes.[110] Several other type of solvent systems, such as
ionic liquids[111] or other protic solvents (CH3COOH), were
explored,[112] but apart from the fact that in the latter
approach comparably narrow tube diameters were observed,
no further significant enhancement could be achieved.
Regarding nanotubes, self-ordered surface dimples may also
be encountered[113–115] (Figure 1 c). These dimples are in fact
metallic surfaces from which the tube layers have been
removed; that is, owing to the rounded oxide tube bottoms
drilling into the metallic substrate, a scalloped interface
results that becomes visible when oxide layers are lifted off by
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TiO2 Nanotubes
voltage pulses, mechanical breakaway, or selective oxide
dissolution.[116]
Mzþ þ z H2 O ! MðOHÞz þ z Hþ
z
MðOHÞz ! MOz=2 þ H2 O
2
Anodization to form tube layers is usually carried out by
applying a potential step (or ramp) at a constant voltage
between 1–30 V in aqueous electrolyte or 5–150 V in nonaqueous electrolytes containing approximately 0.05 m–0.5 m
(0.1–1 wt %) fluoride ions (and usually some background
ion species). The growth of the oxide can then be monitored
by recording the current–time characteristics (Figure 2 a). In
Figure 2. a) Typical current–time (j–t) characteristics after a voltage
step in the absence (a) and presence (c) of fluoride ions in the
electrolyte. Either compact oxide (fluoride free) or porous/tubular
metal oxide formation (containing fluoride) forms by different morphological stages (I–III). The inset shows typical linear sweep voltammograms (j–U curves) for different fluoride concentrations resulting in
either electropolished metal (high fluoride concentration), compact
oxide (very low fluoride concentration), or tube formation (intermediate fluoride concentration). b,c) Schematic drawing showing fieldaided transport of mobile ions through the oxide layers in the absence
and presence of fluoride ions: rapid fluoride migration leads to
accumulation at the metal–oxide interface.
absence of fluoride ions, a compact oxide layer forms on the
TiO2 surface according to Equations (1)–(3):
z
z H2 O þ z e ! H2 " þz OH
2
M!M
þ ze
z
M þ H2 O ! MOz=2 þ z Hþ þ z e
2
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
ð4Þ
This is the classical anodization scheme, involving ion
formation [Ti4+; Eq. (1)], reaction with O2 [created by (fieldaided) deprotonation of H2O or OH ; Eq. (2), (3)] and highfield ion migration of Ti4+ and O2 through the oxide
(Figure 2 b).
After initiation, the growth of an anodic oxide layer is
determined by the field-aided transport of mobile ions
through the oxide (Figure 2 b). Depending on the migration
rate of the involved ionic species (Ti4+, O2), the growth of
new oxide either proceeds at the interface between metal and
oxide or at the interface between oxide and electrolyte
(compact anodic TiO2 layers may in principle grow at either
interfaces, but under most experimental conditions oxide
grows at the metal–oxide interface). Under a constant voltage
U, the field F = U/d drops constantly, thus lowering the driving
force (for solid-state ion migration) with increasing film
thickness d. The result is an (exponential) drop in the anodic
current with time (Figure 2 a) until the field effect is lost (that
is, is on the order of kT). At this point, a (practically) finite
thickness is reached that mainly depends on the anodization
voltage. For many transition metals (so-called valve metals),
this final thickness is given by d = fU, where f is the so-called
growth factor of the oxide (typically in the range of 2–
4 nm V1). Typically, the layer which is grown at the oxide/
electrolyte interface consists of less-dense oxide containing
oxyhydroxides,[117, 118] while the layer at the metal–oxide
interface consists of dense and stable TiO2.
Often, electrochemical reactions, such as anodization
processes, are characterized by current–voltage curves (Figure 2 a, inset). From these curves, threshold voltages Up for
oxide formation, or the rates of electrochemical processes (for
example ion-migration rates) may be determined. For oxide
formation in absence of fluorides, a typical active–passive
behavior can frequently be observed (Figure 2 a, inset).
The presence of fluorides in the electrolyte strongly
affects the anodization process, as fluorides form watersoluble [TiF6]2 species. On one hand, complexation occurs
with Ti4+ ions that are ejected at the oxide–electrolyte
interface [after migration through the oxide film; Equation (5)] and on the other hand by chemical attack of the
formed TiO2 [Equation (6)]:
Ti4þ þ 6 F ! ½TiF6 2
þ
H
2
TiO2 þ 6 F !½TiF
þ 2 H2 O
6
ð3Þ
Simultaneously, the counter reaction, which is hydrogen
evolution, takes place at the cathode [Equation (4)]:
2.2. Stages and Factors in TiO2 Nanotube Growth
zþ
ð2bÞ
ð5Þ
ð6Þ
ð1Þ
ð2aÞ
Depending on the fluoride concentration, three very
different electrochemical characteristics can be obtained[103]
(Figure 2 a, inset). If the fluoride content is very low
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P. Schmuki et al.
( 0.05 wt %), a characteristics as in the fluoride-ion-free case
is observed; that is, after anodizing the material to a voltage
above Up, a stable compact oxide layer is formed. If the
fluoride concentration is high (ca. 1 wt %), no oxide formation can be observed, as all the Ti4+ formed immediately
reacts with the abundant fluoride to form soluble [TiF6]2 (the
reaction may then be controlled by diffusion of [TiF6]2 from
the surface, and electropolishing of the sample occurs).[103]
For intermediate fluoride concentrations, a competition
between oxide formation and Ti4+ solvatization takes place
and porous oxide or nanotube formation can be observed. A
typical I–t curve for conditions that lead to nanotube
formation is shown in Figure 2 a. The curve shows three
stages: I) In the initial stage of anodization the curve
essentially follows the fluoride-free case, and if samples are
removed from the electrolyte, a compact oxide layer is
present (see also Figure 3). In stage II, a current increase
Figure 3. SEM images (cross-sectional views) of the initial phase of
anodic TiO2 nanotube growth. First, a) a compact layer is formed, then
b) local thinning and c) tube embryo formation occurs before d) stable
tube growth is finally established. (Reproduced with permission from
Ref. [127].)
occurs, and irregular nanoscale pores are initially formed that
penetrate the initial compact oxide (the current increases as
the reactive area increases). In step III, the current drops
again as a regular nanopore or nanotube layer forms. The
penetrated compact oxide (random pore layer; initiation
layer) often remains as remnants that are frequently found
after anodization on the tube tops.[103, 119] Various efforts have
been directed toward removing these layers,[119–121] as they
interfere with any transport process into the tubes or hamper
the exploitation of tube size effects.[122, 123] After self-organization occurred, the tube growth continues at steady current
densities. For extended anodization, the growth may be
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determined by diffusional effects[37, 124] and thus agitation (and
gravity effects[125]) and viscosity (influence on the diffusion
constant[106]) may become important.
The initiation of the growth of TiO2 nanotubular layers
has been investigated in several works.[117, 126–128] A very recent
study on the anodization of masked thin metallic titanium
layers on silicon substrates enabled a detailed investigation of
the very first growth stages;[127] a typical sequence of TiO2
nanotubular layer growth during the first 110 s is shown in
Figure 3. Once the initiation phase is overcome, the tubes
grow longer with time (Figure 4 a) until the etching action of
fluorides (permanent thinning of the tube tops) becomes
apparent,[124, 126] and a steady-state situation between tube
formation at the bottom and etching at the top according to
Equation (6) is established (see also Section 2.7.4). When
tubes are growing in phase III (Figure 2 a), that is, under
steady-current conditions, the magnitude of the current is
significantly higher than when a compact oxide (at the same
voltage) is formed. In terms of the driving force, this implies
that an accordingly higher field must be present over the tube
bottom (the barrier oxide), as the ion-migration rate is
controlled by this oxide layer. A main role of fluorides is thus
to maintain a thinner bottom oxide layer[129] by chemical
etching of the oxide layer and immediate complexation
(solvatization) of Ti4+ species arriving at the oxide–electrolyte
interface. Another important factor is that fluoride ions are
very small and compete with O2 migration through the TiO2
bottom oxide (Figure 2 c). In fact it has been observed that
fluorides may migrate at a rate twice as high as O2 ions
through oxide lattices. As a result, a fluoride-rich layer is
formed at the metal–oxide interface.[118] The existence of this
fluoride-rich layer was shown by Albu et al. by XPS and SEM
analysis.[118, 130] In Figure 5 a, a XPS sputter-depth profile
through the bottom of a nanotube layer is shown, and it
demonstrates two important factors: that fluoride species are
present over the entire layer, and that an approximately
20 nm thick fluoride-rich layer is present at the metal–oxide
interface. This layer can also be seen by SEM, where a thin
salt film is visible on the dimples of the titanium metal
substrate after lifting off the TiO2 nanotubes (see Figure 5 b).
The very important role of this fluoride-rich layer in the
development of the further tube morphology is discussed in
Sections 2.3. and 2.5.
The nanotube layers, as they are grown in fluoride
containing electrolytes, show a V-shaped sidewall thickness
profile[118, 124] (Figure 5 c) that is due to exposure of the formed
tubes to the etching fluoride-containing electrolyte (permanently etching and thinning the tube walls). The general shape
and composition distribution can therefore be summarized as
in Figure 5 c: The outer part of the shell (OST) is typically
dense very pure TiO2, and the inner part (IST) of the tube is of
a more loose nature and contains incorporated electrolyte
components. Detailed SEM work showed that chemical
dissolution of the inner TiO2 layer is faster and thus
contributes more to the fact that the walls become thinner
towards the top of nanotubes (Figure 5 d). The tube layers
overall have a considerable fluoride ion content but the
fluoride (or carbon) content decays strongly upon annealing.[118, 131]
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TiO2 Nanotubes
2.3. Factors Affecting Geometry and Composition
Figure 4. a) TiO2 nanotube-layer thickness with anodization time for
different electrolytes (anodization voltage for ethylene glycol electrolyte
held at 60 V, and 40 V for other electrolytes): & water-based acidic,[103]
~ water-based neutral,[105] & glycerol,[106] * glycerol/H2O 50:50,[129]
[364]
b) Voltage dependence of the tube diameter for
* ethylene glycol.
different electrolytes: * water-based, ! glycerol/H2O 50:50, & glycerol,
& ethylene glycol. c) Parameter study for growth rate and ordering of
TiO2 nanotube layer in ethylene glycol electrolytes. Note that for
conditions beyond optimized (that is, higher voltages or higher
fluoride concentrations), no ordered tube layers are obtained (reproduced with permission from Ref. [108]). The inset images in (c)
demonstrate the increase in ordering with parameter optimization.
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While anodization time and etching rate define tube
length, as described above, the diameter of the nanotubes is
controlled linearly by the applied voltage.[124, 126, 129, 132] Some
typical results are shown in Figure 4 b for some aqueous and
non-aqueous electrolytes. The fact that the voltage dependence has a different slope in non-aqueous electrolytes can be
ascribed to a large extent to the low conductivity of organic
electrolytes and resulting IR-drop effects;[133–136] that is, the
fact that the effective voltage of the electrode is Ueff =
UnominalIR, where R is the resistivity of the electrolyte and
I is the current. As reaction products are formed with
anodization time, the conductivity of the electrolyte
changes,[134] and thus variations in the diameter (larger
diameters) are observed for longer anodization times.
Investigations into optimized conditions for tube growth
usually lead to results such as those shown in Figure 4 c, where
the tube length as a function of anodization voltage and
fluoride concentration was investigated. It is remarkable that
the fastest growth conditions typically also represent conditions for optimized ordering. The nanotubes grown from
organic electrolytes, such as ethylene glycol, DMSO, glycerol,
or ionic liquids, show some significant differences in morphology and composition compared with nanotubes grown in
aqueous electrolytes; owing to the low water content, very
long tubes and large diameters (up to 700 nm)[137] can be
grown.
Most striking is, however, that in organic electrolytes,
smooth tube walls can be obtained.[106] This is due to a lower
water content in the electrolyte, which controls tube splitting
(see Section 2.5). While a V-shape morphology is present for
aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes, in some organic
electrolytes and for higher-voltage anodization, the inner
tube layer (IST) shows an extremely high uptake of carbon
from the electrolyte (see the table in Figure 13 c). That an
inner carbon-rich contamination layer is present (for tubes
formed in organic electrolytes, such as ethylene glycol) can be
explained by the fact that the voltage-induced Schottky
breakdown mechanism is operative for high-voltage anodization, leading to a decomposition of the organic electrolyte.[138]
In aqueous electrolytes, the inner tube layer is typically more
hydroxide-rich than the outer layer.[139–141]
In organic electrolytes, aging of the electrolyte is often
required to obtain highly defined tubes. Aging involves
repeated anodization of dummy titanium sheets before the
target sample is prepared. Very extensive work on aging of
the electrolyte was recently performed by Lee et al.[134]
Crucial factors in aging are the combined increase of the
TiF62 content in the electrolyte (reduced TiO2 dissolution)
and the reaching of a steady water content in the electrolyte
(for example, ethylene glycol is relatively hygroscopic and
tends to take up considerable amounts of water from
environmental air).
Under steady-state conditions, the nanotubular oxide
layer thickness depends linearly on the anodization time; that
is, the charge passed during anodization. However, due to
etching by the electrolyte, at some point an equilibrium state
between the growth of the oxide and chemical dissolution
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Figure 5. a) XPS depth profile taken through the bottom of a lifted-off TiO2
nanotube layer. b) SEM images showing the fluoride-rich layer in the form of
flakes on the titanium substrate and some left at the bottom part of nanotubes
after lift-off the nanotube layer along with corresponding patches at the
nanotube bottoms. c) Typical TiO2 nanotube formed in organic electrolyte and
consisting of an inner (IST) and outer oxide shell (OST) and a fluoride-rich
layer (FRL) (reproduced with permission from Ref. [118]). d) SEM images of
TiO2 nanotubes taken at the top, from the fractures in the middle, and close to
the bottom of a tube layer, illustrating the gradient in the tube-wall thickness
(reproduced with permission from Ref. [110]).
exists. As the etching rate, according to Equation (6), is even
faster in acidic electrolytes, tube length is limited to 500–
600 nm in electrolytes at low pH. In neutral electrolyte
systems, layer thicknesses of up to 2–4 mm can be obtained
owing to the reduced chemical dissolution. However, owing
to the hydrolysis reactions [Eqs. (2) and (3)], the pH at the
tube tips is considerably lower than in the bulk electrolyte.[105, 142] Chemical dissolution can however be further
decreased by anodization in glycerol or ethylene glycol
based systems (reduced water content). In these electrolytes,
the linear growth behavior could be significantly extended.[106]
In principle, the expected length of the tubes could be
calculated by converting the charge into an oxide volume (for
example, by assuming 100 % current efficiency towards oxide
formation and assuming the pores to be formed by purely
chemical dissolution). However, the tube lengths are much
larger than this estimate; that is, they would lead to a current
efficiency of more than 100 %. Therefore, other tube-lengthening mechanisms, as discussed in Section 2.4 (oxide flow)
must come into play.
Etching of the tube at their top (in long-duration
anodization experiments) leads to inhomogeneous top structures (Figure 6 a–c). The formation of needle- or grass-like
morphologies (Figure 6 a–c) at the tube tops can be observed
(which may be associated with the distribution of fluorides
preferentially at boundary triple points, as outlined in
Section 2.5) and collapsing and bundling tube tops (as the
walls become too thin to support their own weight or
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withstand capillary forces when drying; Figure 6 a,b,d).
As mentioned, there are various ways to protect tube
tops against etching,[119–121] and an example is shown in
Figure 6.
Water content in the electrolyte affects the growth
rate and the etching speed (chemical dissolution rate)
of the nanotubes. In other words, the effect of water
content is two-fold: it is required for oxide formation
(tube bottom), but it also accelerates the dissolution of
the nanotube layer (if the formed metal fluorides are
water-soluble). A striking effect of the water content is
that smooth tube walls are obtained for low water
content, whereas side wall ripples are formed at higher
contents.[106, 129, 143, 144] The reason for this effect is that
for higher water contents, the fluoride-rich layer
between the tubes shows a faster etching speed
(chemical dissolution rate) than the growth speed of
the tubes into the underlying substrate; that is, ripples
at the walls of the tubes can be ascribed to the
continuous etching and passivation of the cell boundary regions (see also Figure 9 b).[145]
In principle, tubes can also be grown under
galvanostatic conditions (that is, by keeping the
anodization current constant).[146] However, this
method has the drawback that the voltage may
change with time and control over the tube diameter
is therefore lost. Work by Taveira et al.[146] showed that
during constant current anodization, the voltage
indeed increases and fluctuates. Tube growth proceeds
Figure 6. Typical etching effects observed with nanotube layers: a–
c) Thinning of tube walls at the tops owing to etching in fluoridecontaining electrolyte leads to thinning and collapse of tubes with
formation of nanograss (a,b) or perforated tube walls in the upper
tube parts (c). d) Bundling at tube tops owing to a lack of mechanical
support. e) Highly ordered grass-free and open tubes prepared by
photoresist masking. f) Tube-wall thinning and formation of needles
(grass).
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up to a critical voltage, then a lift-off of the layers is observed
and a new layer forms again. Other growth techniques are the
use of alternating voltage (AV) techniques[147] or support by
ultrasonic treatment;[148] the effects are interesting but overall
not a very significant deviation from constant voltage results
is observed.
2.4. Growth by Flow Mechanisms
A remarkable feature of TiO2 nanotubes is that the tubes
are longer than expected, as mentioned above and illustrated
in Figure 7.[127, 155] The figure shows a cross-section of a
lithographically defined nanotube area after anodic growth
from a thin titanium layer. This approach allows the oxide
expansion factors to be determined very well during the
growth and they can be compared to the charge used to form
the oxide. The expected expansion factor when metal is
converted into oxide is given by the ratio of the volume of the
oxide to the volume of the metal consumed and is frequently
called the Pilling–Bedworth ratio (PBR).[149] The PBR of
amorphous anodic TiO2[150] is 2.43, which corresponds to the
dashed line in Figure 7 a (considering the recession of the
metal front from its original level). However, Figure 7 shows
that the tubes grew much larger than this expectation, and an
expansion factor of about 3 can be observed from the crosssection. Figure 7 b shows the evolution of the oxide expansion
factor (fexp) with anodization time. Early oxide growth in the
initial phase occurs with a volume expansion of 2.4 (as
expected for a compact anodic oxide) and proceeds, after a
decrease, with an increase to a steady expansion factor of
approximately 3. Only after very extended anodization is a
decrease again observed, which is due to noticeable influence
of tube-top etching. This unexpectedly high volume expansion is ascribed to an additional lengthening of the tubes by
plastic flow.
The flow concept was originally brought up for growth of
porous anodic alumina in 2006 by Thompson et al.[151, 152] and
was recently modeled by Hebert et al.[153, 154] For Al2O3, oxide
flow is assumed to originate from the plasticity of the barrier
layer generated by the substantial ionic movement in the high
electric field together with compressive stresses induced by
the volume expansion (PBR) and electrostrictive forces
generated during growth. Another suggested origin for
stress is the competition of strong anion adsorption with
O2 entrance at the growing oxide lattice.[154] The result in any
case is a force that pushes viscous oxide up the pore walls and
thus extends the tube lengths. Overall, the increased volume
expansion factors observed during the growth of TiO2 nanotubes[127, 155] along with other morphological and analytical[133, 156] findings suggest a similar mechanism for the
growth of TiO2 nanotubes. Apart from length extension,
another crucial implication is that the inward-migrating
fluoride species will be pushed towards the cell boundaries
by the flow and continuously accumulate there[118, 145, 157]
(Figure 7 c). This accumulation of fluoride at the cell boundaries and even more at triple points leads to a chemical
sensitization of these regions. Owing to the solubility of
titanium fluorides in water, these regions are key in the
formation of nanotubes rather than porous structures (outlined in Section 2.5 below).
2.5. Transition from Porous to Tubular Structures
Figure 7. a) Cross-section of a titanium surface before and after anodic
nanotube growth. The result indicates a much larger tube length than
expected; plain volume expansion would lead to 2.4 (PBR), indicated
by a dashed line (reproduced with permission from Ref. [155]).
b) Dependence of the expansion factors of anodic TiO2 layers on the
anodization time (reproduced with permission from Ref. [127]). c) Diagram of the flow mechanism pushing oxide and fluoride layer up the
cell walls by viscous flow.[154]
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At first sight, the self-organized oxide morphologies
attained for aluminum and titanium seem to be considerably
different (see Figure 1). However, bottom view images (Figure 1 c and 8 a) of TiO2 nanotube layers show that the bottom
oxide is identical to porous layers. This means that when
viewing the bottom or looking at cross-sections near the
bottom, a compact hexagonal oxide morphology is present
without a separation into individual tubes.[110] From a tilted
bottom view (Figure 8 a), it is apparent that there is a
continuous transition from a hexagonal porous to a tubular
structure. Several studies carried out on Ti/Al alloys (that is,
alloys that contain a typical tube-forming material titanium
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Selective cell boundary etching was observed even for
aluminum under specific conditions.[167–170]
The effect of water concentration has also recently been
studied for pure TiO2 nanotube formation, and indeed for
extremely low H2O contents in a non-aqueous electrolyte a
porous morphology is obtained.[171] The fact that anodization
voltage also affects the pore to tube transition can be ascribed
to a field effect on the fluoride ion mobility (faster or slower
accumulation) and stress (by electrostriction), which in turn
affects viscous oxide flow (and the fluoride layer). The
separation mechanism of tube splitting by fluoride dissolution
is also the main factor for the formation of sidewall ripples
(see also Section 2.7).[144, 152, 171]
2.6. Self-Organization Length Scales (Tube Diameter)
Figure 8. a) Formation of tubes from pore structures, illustrated by an
SEM bottom view of a nanotube layer cracked off from the metal
substrate at a slight angle. The bottom of a tube layer consists entirely
of a close-packed hexagonal pore layer that is gradually converted into
round tubes. b) Transition from a porous to tubular structure (left to
right). c) Representation of the formation of a tubular morphology
from an originally porous morphology by selective dissolution of
fluoride-rich layers and preferential etching at triple points by H2O in
the electrolyte.
and a typical pore-forming material Al) were very useful in
establishing why pores formed for some metals and anodization conditions but tubes formed under other conditions.[158, 159] For these alloys, oxide layers with distinct
porous or tubular morphologies, or even transitional states,
could be adjusted depending on electrochemical conditions
(in Figure 8 b this continuous transition is shown for a Ti-54Al
alloy).[158, 159]
All these findings can be explained phenomenologically
by the fact that during growth of the oxide (supported by
plastic flow), an accumulation of fluorides takes place at cell
boundaries (Figure 8 c). These regions are sensitized, as the
fluoride-rich layer is prone to chemical dissolution: Selective
chemical dissolution (in aqueous electrolyte) of the fluoriderich layer etches out the cell boundaries and thus leads to
individual tube shapes. Under comparable anodization conditions, an ordered porous oxide is obtained for alumina but a
tubular morphology is found for titania, which can be ascribed
to the high solubility of TiF or TiOF compounds in
aqueous media, whereas AlF species are much less soluble.[160] In other words, separation into tubes and the etching
rate (and thus the point in oxide height where pore cells are
split into separate tubes) is determined mainly by the fluoride
concentration and the water content in the electrolyte
(fluoride solubility).
In this context, it is noteworthy that similar transition
phenomena were reported on other valve metal
alloys[36, 124, 161, 162] and also on pure valve metals, such as
zirconium and hafnium.[163–166] In each case it was found that a
key parameter affecting the morphology is the concentration
of H2O in the electrolyte. By controlling the H2O concentration, the oxide morphology of anodic ZrO2 and HfO2 could
be completely switched from nanoporous to nanotubular.
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The main point in tackling theoretically the reason of selforganization in porous or tubular oxide growth is the question
of why a non-smooth surface is stable, as self-scalloping/
roughening is not favored in terms of surface energy.
Although considerable experimental data exist that identify
crucial parameters for self-ordering of porous or tubular
structures, a comprehensive fully theoretical model that
directly translates into quantifiable experimental data still
does not exist. From work on Al, Ti, and TiAl, and also other
alloys, it is clear that once tube or pore formation is possible
(experimental conditions established), the applied voltage
linearly determines the length scale of self-ordering (see also
Figure 4). The difference in the various materials can be
explained by the different high-field growth factors of the
oxides.[124, 126, 172] Very elaborate theoretical work has been
performed for self-ordering of porous alumina. To explain
self-ordering, perturbation methods, and in particular longand short-wave stability analyses were used, but only in a few
cases also associated with specific physical phenomena:[173, 174]
to explain why a specific wavelength (tube or pore spacing)
becomes stabilized over a flat surface. In light of the
contemporary experimental findings, approaches that base
stable self-ordering either on the specific ion-flux conditions[174b] (electromigration) or on the stress generated during
oxide growth[174a] seem most adequate. In ion-flux models, a
crucial component is adjustment of ion flux through the oxide
and flux across the interfaces versus the interface shape,
which under certain conditions can stabilize a short-wave
instability. In stress-based models, a key question is whether
purely mechanical (volume expansion) or electrostrictive
effects dominate. While the length scale (wavelength) for
pure Pilling–Bedworth volume expansion is far from accounting for the observed self-ordering length (100 nm range),
scales estimated for observed electrostrictive forces are very
likely to be in the required range (l 100 nm).[174b] In other
words, the compressive electrostrictive stresses occurring in
the oxide film, and in particular at the film surface, could be
minimized by an increase of the surface area, that is,
scalloping of the oxide film. However, the fact that optimized
self-organization is typically observed for an optimized set of
voltage combined with a specific current situation[110, 175] (see
also Figure 4 c) and some preliminary stress measurements[176]
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supports ion flux models that possibly need to be linked with
approaches describing the final steady-state (growth) ordering by saturation effects.
2.7. Advanced Geometries
2.7.1. Tube Stacks, Bamboo, Nanolace, and Branched Tubes
Various modifications in the tube geometry can be
achieved by changing the anodization voltage during the
tube growth process, and some examples are shown in
Figure 9. Applying voltage steps can be used for example to
generate tube stacks,[126, 144, 177, 178] or stratification layers
thinned down sufficiently to continue growth under lower
field conditions (the tube diameter will in this case adjust to
the lower field and thus tube branching may occur). If tubewall separation (tube splitting) is faster than the etching
process through the tube bottom, then the second tube layer
will initiate in the space between the tubes.
Stratification layers[36, 178] can be generated when stepping
first to a lower voltage while holding the lower voltage for a
time that is sufficient to establish diffusion and field
conditions corresponding to the lower applied voltage, and
then stepping back to the original high voltage. This process
has of course to be carried out before tube bottoms are
penetrated and a second tube layer grows. In this case the
result is the formation of a new initiation layer between the
tubes. There are two reasons for this: 1) When the voltage is
stepped up, the thinned tube bottom immediately thickens in
all directions as new high-field oxide is forming, or 2) because
tube separation has reached the bottom but no secondary
tube formation has yet been initiated.
By exploring this behavior, regular tube structures with
bamboo-like features can be fabricated by pulsing between
two appropriate voltages.[178, 179] The distance between the
bamboo rings can be altered by adjusting the holding times at
different voltages. Bamboo-type nanotubes, with higher surface areas compared to normal TiO2 nanotubes, are promising
in the field of dye-sensitized solar cells.[179] The oxide quantity
formed during initiation process is different[119, 121, 128, 180] and
more etch-resistant in fluoride electrolytes; therefore, after
extended exposure to a fluoride containing environment, the
tubes are selectively etched out, leaving behind the stratification layers that form a large uniform nanolace structure,
which can be converted into large anatase networks.[178]
2.7.2. Double-Walled Tubes
Figure 9. Advanced TiO2 nanotube morphologies: a) Bamboo nanotubes fabricated by alternating voltage anodization (reproduced with
permission from Ref. [178]), b) smooth to bamboo-tube transition
induced by variation of H2O content in the electrolyte (reproduced
with permission from Ref. [144]), c) nanolace (reproduced with permission from Ref. [178]), d) branched nanotubes by voltage stepping
(reproduced with permission from Ref. [178]), e) double-walled nanotubes, f) amphiphilic double-layer tubes (reproduced with permission
from Ref. [177]).
(bamboo).[178, 179] In tube stacks, a second tube layer can be
grown underneath the top layer, if desired with a different
diameter. Key to whether a second tube layer grows through
the bottom of the top layer or starts in the V-shaped open
space between the tubes depends critically on the experimental conditions.[36, 178]
If the voltage is lowered during anodization, tube growth
will be stopped or drastically slowed down, as the driving field
across the bottom oxide is too low to maintain growth.
However, owing to the permanent etching of the tube bottom
in the fluoride environment, at some point the oxide is
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As mentioned in Section 2.3., in some organic electrolytes
formed at sufficiently high voltages, the nanotubes contain an
inner carbon-rich shell (Figure 9 e) originating from electrolyte decomposition. Upon annealing, the carbon-rich layer
can be thermally decomposed, leading to a remaining nanoparticulated inner tube wall.[118] This effect can be used to
increase the inner surface area of the tube layers substantially.
The exact structure of these double-walled tubes upon
annealing is very sensitive to the annealing conditions, and
in particular the temperature ramping speed and holding
time, which allows for the fabrication of very robust
membranes or entirely separated inner-shell/outer-shell structures.[118]
2.7.3. Amphiphilic Tubes
Recently, it was reported that growing a first layer of
nanotubes, treating them with an organic hydrophobic
monolayer (octadecylphosphonic acid; ODPA), and re-growing tubes again in an organic electrolyte allows amphiphilic
tube stacks to be fabricated[177] in which the lower tube layer
grows through the bottom oxide of the first layer (Figure 9 f).
Owing to the hydrophobic coating of the top layer and the
naturally hydrophilic character of the freshly grown tubes, the
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double-layer stacks have a highly amphiphilic behavior (see
Section 6.5 for applications). Furthermore, the hydrophobic
nature of the top layer strongly aids directing the initiation of
the secondary layer. The tube walls are to a certain extent
protected against the etching effect from the fluorides, but the
voltage-induced chain scission effect (see Section 6.1) leads to
preferential removal of the monolayer at the tube bottom.
Furthermore, the V-shaped openings between the tubes are
even more protected by monolayers owing to suppression of
preferential wetting of the space in between the tubes (see
Section 4.5).[181]
typically some needles (often called nanograss or even
nanorods[185]) remain on the tube top (see Figure 6 a,b). To
counteract the formation of nanograss, various approaches
have been reported[119–121] that often rely on protecting tube
tops by some sort of etching resistant layers. These involve
thermal rutile layers, sacrificial tube layers, or photoresist
layers: these layers not only provide enhanced protection
against etching of the tube tops but also suppress undesired
local convection effects from the electrolyte.
2.7.4. High-Order, Defined Tube Tops
A very spectacular effect, two-size-scale self-organization,
was first observed when growing tubes on a complex
biomedical titanium-based alloy.[186, 187] In this case, tubes of
two distinct different diameters were formed under some
anodization conditions that were highly ordered and
arranged. This effect was later also reported for a range of
more simple binary[124, 188–190] and ternary[191, 192] alloys. The
origin of this highly unusual effect is still not entirely clear.
While this effect was originally attributed to alloy composition, it seems however more related to geometry stabilization
effects under certain anodization conditions.[36] This is most
evident from very recent findings on two-level size-scale
stabilization on pure titanium.[137, 193]
The highest level of ordering in TiO2 nanotube layers is
achieved in non-aqueous electrolytes, such as glycerol or
ethylene glycol, and in fact by using ethylene glycol electrolytes under optimized conditions (electrochemical and electrolyte),[108, 118] very closely packed tubes with a hexagonal
symmetry can be obtained (see Figure 4 c). The key for a high
degree of ordering is to grow under optimized electrochemical conditions, which are typically conditions under which
maximum current is achieved but oxide dielectric breakdown
(sparking) is avoided. This is entirely in line with observations
by Ono et al. that were made for highly ordered alumina
growth that also is optimized at maximum current but
avoiding burning events.[175, 182] Even further improved ordering of the tubes can be achieved using pre-structured surfaces
that provide geometrical guiding. This was demonstrated[110]
for example by tube formation followed by a removal of the
tube layer and a second anodization. The organized dimpled
titanium metal surface after removal of the first tube layer
acts as initiation sites for tube growth in the second anodization step, which results in an optimized hexagonal arrangement. This procedure was originally established for aluminum
by Masuda et al.[116] and has been used frequently since then
to obtain highly ordered alumina arrays.
A commonly undesirable feature is the presence of nonideal tube tops (as shown in Figure 6), and three different
origins should be distinguished: 1) Initiation layer remnants
that may cover the tube tops while highly ordered layers are
growing underneath. These initiation layer remnants are
etched off in the fluoride-containing electrolytes with time,
and their creation can be minimized by using a voltage sweep
approach[105] to the desired final anodization voltage rather
than using direct voltage steps. In some cases these layers can
be removed by adequate polarization/sonication techniques[183] or can be minimized by using sacrificial
layers.[119–121] 2) Collapsing tubes: the tube tops are exposed
to the electrolyte for the longest time and therefore are
etched by fluorides the most. If the tube tops are considerably
thinned down, the tube walls become comparably flexible and
tend to stick together in irregular bundles (see Figure 6 d)
owing to capillary effects while drying samples by gas streams
or heating. This effect can to a large extent be avoided by
supercritical drying[184] or keeping tube tops sufficiently
rigid.[119–121] 3) Grass or needles: if etching thins down the
tube tops even more, the tube walls start becoming perforated
and disintegrate. The etching is not entirely uniform and
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2.7.5. Self-Organization on Two Size Scales
2.7.6. Membranes
The defined geometry (length and diameter) make nanotube layers very interesting for membrane-type applications,
such as filtration or microphotoreactors (see Section 6.1). The
strategy to produce such membranes typically consists of the
formation of a tube layer, its separation from the substrate,
followed by opening the tube bottoms. A typical free-standing
membrane is shown in Figure 10. In the first report on the
fabrication of such free-standing flow-through membranes,[123]
nanotubes of 50–100 mm length were grown, then the underlying titanium metal was selectively dissolved in Br2/CH3OH,
and then the oxide bottom of the tubes was etched open by
HF vapor. Flow-through and photocatalytic activity was
demonstrated for such membranes. Thereafter, several other
approaches were reported, which mostly involve modifying
the lift-off and opening procedure using for example sonication or voltage pulses.[194–196] However, the main problem
remains the lift-off process (particularly if the membrane is
thinner than 50 mm), which is increasingly difficult to handle
without causing membrane rupture, and this becomes an even
bigger challenge if larger membrane areas are desired.
Furthermore, opening the tube bottoms uniformly over a
large area by a chemical etching process (using HF, oxalic
acid, or any other etchant) is difficult because as soon as tube
bottoms are etched open at one location, the etchant creeps
up the tube walls by capillary forces. This problem is most
severe for thin membranes.
A fundamentally novel approach was reported recently
that eliminates these difficulties.[121] Albu et al. evaporated an
aluminum film on a thin titanium foil, anodized from the
titanium side, and grew tubes through the titanium into the
underlying aluminum (using to advantage the fact that
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Figure 10. A TiO2 nanotube membrane produced by anodic tube
formation, lift-off, and bottom-opening processes. a) Flow through a
membrane, b) optical image of a robust membrane (reproduced with
permission from Ref. [118]) c, d) SEM images of a membrane open on
both sides: c) top view, d) bottom view.
ordered porous alumina can also be formed in fluoridecontaining electrolytes).[158] The remaining aluminum metal
and oxide were then selectively chemically dissolved.
Another highly beneficial feature introduced by Albu et al.
is that the etched area was defined by a photolithographic
process to form a grid structure. The remaining titanium
metal frame allows for a high mechanical flexibility and
excellent electrical contact to the enclosed nanotube packs.
This strategy allowed large-scale membranes to be reliably
created for the first time.
3. Properties of TiO2 and TiO2 Nanotubes
The main reason why TiO2 nanotubes are currently
attracting such a high interest is that some of the intrinsic
properties of TiO2 provide the basis for many outstanding
functional features. In the following, we will briefly discuss
some of the most relevant material properties of TiO2 ; for
more detailed material properties, the reader is referred to
some excellent reviews.[16, 22, 28, 40, 197, 198] However, in the following sections, we will address several specific features relevant
to TiO2 nanotubes.
3.1. Crystal Structure
TiO2 exists naturally mainly in three crystalline phases:
anatase, rutile, and brookite. Other than these, a synthetic
layered phase, called TiO2(B),[199] and some high-pressure
polymorphs also exist.[200] Moreover, TiO2 structures formed
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
at room temperature (sol–gel techniques, or anodic oxides)
often are obtained in an amorphous form. Among the
different polymorphs, rutile is generally considered to be
the thermodynamically most stable bulk phase, while at the
nanoscale (< 20 nm), anatase is considered to be stable,
although there are some arguments in literature.[200, 201]
Regarding nanoscale materials, it is important to realize
that surface energy and stress have a significant effect on
phase stability. The surface energy depends on the number of
uncoordinated titanium cation sites. Fourfold-coordinated
centers have larger surface energy than those with fivefold
coordination, and the surface energy increases with the
number of uncoordinated positions. In case of anatase
crystals, the surface energy is lower than for rutile. However,
the stress energy shows the opposite behavior. Both energies
have some compensational effect; therefore, it is not surprising that a somewhat unclear picture exists regarding the most
stable phase in nanoscale materials.[201, 202] Moreover, the
presence of some ionic species in the lattice, such as Cl or F ,
also influences the stability of particular polymorphs.[180, 203–205]
For example, rutile is more stable in presence of chloride
ions.[203–205] In the case of anodic oxidation of titanium, the
amorphous oxide layer can be converted by extended
anodization times into rutile in fluoride-containing electrolytes, whereas in fluoride-free electrolytes, anatase can be
obtained.[180] In anodic layer formation, the conversion from
an amorphous TiO2 film into a crystalline anatase phase and
dehydration effects are reported to depend not only on time
but also on the applied voltage.[101, 206–209]
Apart for stoichiometric TiO2, various suboxide phases
exist that have very interesting properties. Substoichiometric
compositions of titania may be described by the general
formula TinO2n1 (4 n 10), but some defined phases are
most remarkable, such as Ti4O7, Ti5O9, Ti6O11, Ti7O13, Ti8O15,
Ti9O17, which are usually called Magnli phases.[210, 211] Such
phases are made up of two-dimensional chains of titania
octahedra; for example, Ti4O7 can be considered as three TiO2
octahedra and one TiO octahedron with oxygen vacancies at
the edge of the unit cells. Such Magnli-phase titanium oxides
are highly conductive (almost as high as graphite) and can be
formed under reductive high-temperature treatment in H2[210]
or C2H2.[212, 213]
In fact, many properties of TiO2 strongly depend on bulk
or surface structural defects, and in particular on the
formation or presence of bulk or surface Ti3+ states or O2
vacancies.[40] On the surface of TiO2, unsaturated titanium
cations, such as Ti3+, Ti2+, and Ti+, may for example be
generated during vacuum or inert-gas annealing (TiO2
surfaces at low oxygen partial pressures tend to split off O2
or H2O from terminal oxide or hydroxide groups and form
bridged oxide and Ti3+ states). Such effects can also be
obtained under inert gas sputtering (for example, with Ar+) or
e-beam exposure etc. Usually, Ti3+ states are found after such
treatments, which are crucial for electronic and optical
properties and also the surface reactivity. Under UV irradiation and in the presence of O2, adsorbed oxygen can be
reduced to O2 and thereby inhibit the generation of Ti3+ sites.
During long-time annealing, Ti3+ atoms may diffuse from the
surface into the bulk of TiO2.
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TiO2 nanotubes, after electrochemical formation, are
amorphous, and some reports[103, 118, 214] indicate the presence
of nanocrystallites in the tube wall, particularly if anodization
is carried out at higher voltages. For example, in acidic
electrolyte (H2SO4), depending on the anodization conditions
(sparking, potentistatic, or galvanostatic), the as formed oxide
film may consist of anatase, a mixture of anatase and rutile, or
rutile crystallites.[129, 215–217] Reports that suggest the presence
of crystallites in as-formed oxide nanotubes and which are
based on HRTEM investigations need to be examined very
critically, as amorphous TiO2 seems to be particularly prone to
electron-beam-induced crystallization.[214]
Intended conversion of the tubes into crystalline material
(anatase/rutile) by annealing is discussed in Section 4.1. In
general, amorphous material (such as tubes and powders) can
be converted into anatase (ca. 300–500 8C) or rutile (> 550 8C)
by a thermal treatment in air. It should be noted however that
surprising size effects on these transitions have been observed
for nanotubes[201] and that several alloying elements affect the
transition temperature.[188, 189, 218] There are some reports that
show that doping with Nb, Al, Ni, Ga, Ta, and W retards the
growth of anatase and rutile crystallites and delays the
anatase-to-rutile phase transformation.[219–221] On the other
hand, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn are generally believed to promote
the phase transformation. For TiO2 nanotubes, niobium
addition in particular was reported to lead to a significant
temperature shift for anatase conversion.[188] The process is
believed to be due to the inhibition of nucleation of anatase
crystallites by the niobium dopants.[222, 223] In the case of
zirconium[189] and tungsten,[224] slightly elevated temperatures
are also needed to convert the tubes into anatase.
conductivity of anatase and rutile TiO2 films reveal that the
conductivity of undoped anatase and rutile is more or less
similar (range of 104–107 W cm). When thermally reduced, the
conductivity for anatase and rutile is significantly different (in
the range of 101 W cm for anatase and 102 W cm for rutile);
for anatase the conductivity becomes independent of the
temperature.[227, 232]
A wide range of studies investigate the optical properties
of TiO2 nanotubes, mainly in photoelectrochemical arrangements in an electrolyte, or by measuring optical absorption
coefficients in reflectivity or transmission mode in air. For asformed tubular layers, a photocurrent behavior (Figure 11 a)
is often obtained with a band (mobility) gap of approximately
3.1–3.3 eV for the amorphous tubes.[233] After conversion to
anatase, the photocurrent strongly increases and a gap of
3.2 eV results. If annealing is performed to form rutile, the
gap is correspondingly narrower and is about 3.0 eV.[233] There
are two major observations for tubes in comparison to
3.2. Optical and Electrical Properties
In TiO2, the relevant energy levels that form the band
edges and thus define the bandgap are considered to be the
Ti 3d states and O 2p levels. The lowest empty energy levels
are Ti dxy and thus they are representative of the conduction
band (CB) edge, whereas full O 2p states (in particular, nonbonding pp states) define the valence band (VB). Both
anatase and rutile show this general distribution of
states.[225, 226]
TiO2 has an indirect optical bandgap for anatase of 3.2 eV,
for rutile of 3.0 eV, and amorphous material is reported to
have a mobility gap of about 3.2–3.5 eV.[225, 227–230] Crucial for
the optical and electrical properties is the presence of defects
that provide additional states in the bandgap near the CB or
VB. Particularly important in TiO2 are oxygen vacancies and
Ti3+ states, which to a large extent dominate optical and
electrical properties of the material. Typically Ti3+ states are
situated about 0.2–0.8 eV below the conduction band (see
also Figure 14 a).[197, 231] Electrons may be trapped in the Ti3+
sites or the holes may be trapped in oxygen states, leading to
radicals covalently linked to the TiO2 surfaces. Such shallow
defects can release trapped charge carriers easily to the
nearby conduction or valence bands by thermal excitation.
The Ti3+ content seems to entirely dominate the conductivity of TiO2 crystals. Investigations on the typical
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Figure 11. Photocurrent response from TiO2 nanotubes:[235] a) IPCE
versus wavelength spectra of different TiO2 nanotube layers (amorphous and annealed) in 0.1 mol dm3 Na2SO4 : & amorphous (NTs or
compact oxide), * 2.4 mm (annealed), * 2.4 mm (annealed) with
CH3OH. Inset: Incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE)
dependence at 350 nm on the applied voltage and different tube
lengths in 0.1 mol dm3 Na2SO4 in presence (^) and absence (^) of
2 mol CH3OH. b) Photoresponse spectra of TiO2 nanotubes (thickness
ca. 1.8 mm) fabricated in aqueous Na2SO4 solution (&) and in ethylene
glycol (*), showing altered sub-bandgap response in carbon containing electrolytes.
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compact layers: 1) To obtain a contribution to the photoresponse from the tube walls, the tubes need to be annealed;
the amorphous material contains such a high density of
recombination centers that there is virtually no photoconductivity in the tube walls; 2) for tubes annealed to a
crystalline material, the doping level is typically very high
(1018–1019 cm3[234]); that is, if in a photoelectrochemical
configuration a voltage is applied at relatively moderate
bias (ca. 0.3 V anodic to the flat band potential), total carrier
depletion of the walls is reached[235] (using capacitance data
and the Schottky approach).[234, 236–238] In other words, the
space charge layer follows the wall contours only up to this
threshold voltage (and may aid charge separation); at higher
voltages the depletion layer cannot extend any further. This is
the key reason why for tubular shapes a deviation from the
classical Grtner model[239] for the potential dependence of
the photocurrent is observed.[235]
In general, the determined density of bulk states (1018–
19
10 cm3) is much higher for nanotubes than for conventional
nanoparticles. As a result, charge-carrier transport in TiO2
nanotubes is much slower than in comparable nanoparticulate
systems, as the bulk states strongly affect the trapping/
detrapping-dominated majority-carrier transport. However,
the electron diffusion length under UV illumination is up to
30 times higher than for comparable nanoparticle layers
owing to lower surface recombination.[235] The overall photocurrent in tubes and particles is determined to a large extent
by surface recombination effects, as is evident from measurements carried out in presence of a hole scavenger (Figure 11 a). When methanol is added to the electrolyte, the
diffusion length for photogenerated electrons is drastically
enhanced owing to a reduced recombination probability with
surface-trapped holes.[235] For tubes, the electron diffusion
length depends extremely on the type of tubes used, whereas
rough-tube walls (first-generation tubes formed in aqueous
electrolytes) lead to a diffusion length of Ln 1–2 mm; for
second-generation (organic electrolyte) tubes, Ln 25 mm can
be obtained.
Another interesting point is that photocurrent spectra for
different types of nanotubes show a slightly different subbandgap response. For nanotubes prepared under double wall
conditions,[118] that is, in some organic electrolytes at higher
voltage, a tail in the photoresponse is observed owing to
carbon remnants (Figure 11 b; see also Section 4.2 on carbon
doping).
Another optically interesting feature of TiO2 is its
comparably high refractive index (n = 2.5 for anatase to 2.9
for rutile)[240] in comparison with other materials that are used
to manufacture 3D optical structures (SiO2, n = 1.5; Al2O3,
n = 1.7).[241] This high refractive index should allow to create
very interesting photonic materials that for example are
predicted to show a negative-refractive-index photonic crystal
structure.[242] In practice, however, to fully experimentally
realize such structures, some additional control over geometry and order of the tube arrays is needed.
Optical nanosize effects in terms of bandgap widening
have not been observed for TiO2 nanotubes, although the tube
walls in some cases come close to the dimensions (5–10 nm)
where effects could be expected.[243–245] The size, however, is
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sufficient to observe phonon confinement in tube
walls,[222, 223, 246] which is dependent on crystallite size in the
wall and depends on whether 1D or 2D confinement is
established. Most remarkable, however, is an unexpected
phase stabilization upon annealing.[201] While annealing for
nanotubes at moderate temperatures (> 200 8C, < 550 8C)
usually converts nanotubes with a diameter of more than
30 nm to anatase, for smaller diameters, rutile can be
stabilized.
The electrical conductivity of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes on titanium metal has been estimated by two-point
measurements between a metallic contact on the top of the
tubes and the back metal substrate.[247] Some results as a
function of annealing temperature are shown in Figure 12 a.
Although two-point measurements may not yield entirely
reliable values (in absolute terms), the behavior shown is very
characteristic for all TiO2 nanotube layers. For low temperatures (< 200 8C), the resistivity increases with temperature,
owing to evaporation of surface water. At about 300 8C,
conversion of the amorphous material to anatase occurs, and
a significantly higher conductivity is obtained. At temperatures higher than 500 8C, the anatase material is increasingly
Figure 12. Two-point conductivity measurements for TiO2 nanotube
layers a) annealed for 2.5 h at different temperatures in air[247] and b)
I–U characteristics for anatase tubes before (&) and after (*) carbon
doping in C2H2 and conversion into semimetallic tubes (~; hightemperature C2H2 treatment; reproduced with permission from
Ref. [212]).
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converted into more resistive rutile, which leads to a considerably lower conductivity. Using reducing and carbonizing
annealing conditions, the conductivity strongly increases,[247]
and reduction to titanium oxocarbides can even provide a
virtually metallic behavior.[212]
3.3. Reactivity
TiO2 surfaces have been extensively studied regarding
gas-phase adsorption and catalytic effects on various reactions (for a comprehensive overview, see reference [40]), such
as CO oxidation,[248, 249] selective reduction of NOx[250] and O2
and water decomposition.[251–253] Rutile TiO2 (110) in particular is the preferred substrate for UHV studies owing to the
comparable ease with which these single crystal surfaces can
be properly prepared. Overall, it has been shown that surface
defects are the crucial reactive sites for many reactions. For
example, on defective (110) rutile surfaces OH-surface groups
can be formed after H2O adsorption,[254–256] which is proposed
to be due to a reaction of bridged oxide with an adsorbed
water to form hydroxides. For H2 adsorption, oxygen vacancies were reported to act as electron donors,[256, 257] and TiH
can be formed. Such hydrogen atoms may recombine or
diffuse into the bulk of the TiO2 and dope the material; an
according increase of conductivity is observed[258, 259] (see also
Figure 14 a). Studies on rutile surfaces with very low defect
densities showed that defects (oxygen vacancies) were crucial
for CO adsorption.[256, 260] Similarly, NO oxidation[256, 261] and
SO2 reactions[256, 257] strongly depend on the presence of
oxygen vacancies or presence of Ti3+ on the surface. Whereas
NH3 only weakly interacts with defects,[240, 256] H2S may be
dissociated.[256, 262] Ti3+-rich surfaces show considerable reactivity regarding deoxygenation reactions of organic molecules, such as alcohols.[256, 263, 264] Regarding O2 adsorption,
significant adsorption and O2 formation[256, 257] was only
observed on defective surfaces, and no oxygen adsorption
could be detected on intact surfaces.[256, 265] Some reports exist
regarding O2 dissociation at elevated temperatures, and this
fact is in line with the observation that Ti3+ states can be easily
annealed out (oxidized) using high-temperature O2 exposure.[256, 266]
These examples may illustrate why reactions on nanoscale
TiO2 particles and nanotubes are highly promising. Nanoscale
materials can have an extremely high density of defect sites
(lattice corner and kink sites), may possess extreme surface
curvature, and may stabilize unusual crystal orientations or
crystal phases.
For TiO2 nanotubes, proper UHV surface studies were
mainly carried out by Burghaus et al.[248, 249, 251–253] They investigated CO, CO2, H2, O2, and alkane activity on different
crystal structures of TiO2 nanotubes. Currently, reports on
unexpected O2 adsorption on anatase TiO2 nanotubes are
highly interesting.[251] TiO2 nanotubes are the first example of
an intrinsic TiO2 nanostructred material for which active O2
adsorption could be observed; this can usually only be
observed for samples where active defects were introduced,
for example by ion bombardment or for some powders.
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In solution, the most important reactive features of TiO2
are: 1) its solubility in some complexing agents (HF, organic
acids), 2) the possibility of modifying the surface with organic
monolayers by surface hydroxy group reactions (discussed in
Section 4.5), 3) the feasibility of inducing apatite formation
(see biomaterials in Section 6.5), and 4) its electrochemical
properties. Electrochemically, anodically formed amorphous
TiO2 layers behave like a highly defective n-type semiconductor, and annealed to anatase or rutile like a highly
doped n-type semiconductor.[233, 234, 237, 238, 267, 268]
A very important electrochemical feature is the ability to
reduce Ti4+ in the TiO2 lattice to Ti3+ if a sufficiently negative
potential is applied. The reduction reaction is accompanied by
insertion of small cations (Y+ = H+, Li+ from the solution)
into the TiO2 lattice [Eq. (7)]:
Yþ
TiIV O2 þ e !TiIII YO2
ð7Þ
There is a color change associated with formation of the
reduced TiIII material (usually dark blue to brown) that can be
exploited for suitable electrochromic devices.[269–273] For TiO2
and other transition-metal oxides, the electrochemical reduction and re-oxidation are reversible with a switching time that
is determined by the solid-state diffusion/migration of Y+ into
and out of the lattice. Therefore, nanotube surfaces with
nanoscale wall thicknesses allow comparably fast switching in
the millisecond to second range (see also Sections 4.4 and
6.3).
Under anodic polarization, a current blocking situation is
established in n-type TiO2 electrodes. The material can thus
be exploited for photoelectrochemical reactions, such as for
photocatalysis (Section 6.1) or in solar cells (Section 6.2). In
all these applications, the directionality of the nanotube layers
may be beneficially exploited.
TiO2 nanotubes have some beneficial effects as a substrate
for noble metal catalysts in electrocatalysis. For example, it
has been shown that for TiO2 nanotubes decorated with gold,
a more facile O2 reduction reaction can be observed,[274] or
that a highly accelerating effect for methanol oxidation
catalysts can be obtained.[212, 275–278] Such electrocatalytic
effects of TiO2 nanotubes have also been explored for glucose
sensing.[279] All of these applications rely on the fact that
owing to carrier depletion conditions in the TiO2 substrate, a
high overpotential for the oxygen evolution reaction is
provided. A particularly beneficial effect of the tubular
substrate as a support for nanoparticles is not only the large
surface area, but may be even more importantly the
compartization of the electrode surface. The nanotubular
arrangement can contribute to avoid catalyst aggregation and
thus lead to an increase in reactivity and specific reaction
rates. The loadings of expensive noble metal catalysts can be
therefore considerably reduced.
4. Modification of Tube Properties
Modification of the TiO2 nanotubes is mainly carried out
by 1) heat treatments, 2) introducing other elements, or 3) by
tube-wall decoration. The aim is to make the material suitable
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(or even more suitable) for various applications that rely on
specific electrical, optical, or chemical properties. In view of
electronic properties, annealing to a crystalline structure
mainly changes the conductivity and lifetime of charge
carriers, while active doping or bandgap engineering by
introducing other elements targets decreasing the optical
bandgap, thus enabling a visible-light photoresponse. Particle
decoration is often used to increase surface catalytic effects
and to create solid-state junctions. Some of the modification
approaches are borrowed from techniques that are already
established for bulk or nanoparticulate TiO2 ; others are
specific for anodic nanotubes. For anodic nanotubes, the fact
that the synthesis route for the nanotube arrays is an
electrochemical oxidation of a metal piece can be taken
advantage of, and therefore some specific doping principles
become feasible (for example using an alloy of TiX for
anodization, where X is another metal that may act in its
oxidized form as a doping species).
In many conventional applications, nanoscale TiO2 is
either used as isolated nanoparticles (for example, in a
suspension) or as an electrode consisting of TiO2 nanoparticles that are compacted or sintered on a back contact.
The latter case significantly differs from isolated particles in a
solution, as the charge transfer for electrodes through the
entire layer to the back contact is crucial. This, of course, also
applies to nanotubular oxide electrodes, where charge transfer in the tube walls along the tubes to underlying titanium or
the back contact is very important. Therefore, intense efforts
focus on modifying the electrical properties of TiO2 nanotubes.
4.1. Annealing
As mentioned above, the as-prepared TiO2 nanotubes are
amorphous in nature but can be annealed (under oxidizing
conditions in air or O2) to anatase or rutile.[104, 118, 233, 247, 267]
Examples of typical structural and compositional characterization before and after annealing are shown in Figure 13.
Detailed XRD investigations show that significant conversion
of nanotube layers into anatase begins at around 280 8C. With
an increasing annealing temperature, anatase formation is
enhanced.[280] Above about 500 8C, the rutile phase starts to
appear, and with a further increase in the annealing temperature the quantity of rutile increases; for example 12 h
annealing in air results in 4 % rutile at 500 8C, 17 % at 600 8C,
30 % at 700 8C, and 46 % at 800 8C. At 900 8C and relatively
short-time annealing (2 h) and with a ramping speed of
1 8C s1, the TiO2 nanotube layer is completely converted into
a rutile structure. The annealing duration and ramping speed
also has a significant effect on the crystal structure of TiO2
nanotubes and furthermore affects the composition of the
nanotubes. As-formed nanotubes contain a significant
amount of fluoride species[104] (Figure 13 b,c), and if formed
in most organic electrolytes (see Figure 13 c), a significant
amount of carbon is contained, being decomposition products
of the electrolyte.[137] These species can be driven out to a
large extent by annealing.[118] Typically, the as-formed tubes
also contain some surface hydroxide groups (evident for
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
Figure 13. Annealing of TiO2 nanotube layers: a) XRD pattern of TiO2
nanotube layers as-formed and after annealing at different temperatures in air (reproduced with permission from Ref. [280]). b) XPS
spectra of O 1s, C 1s, and F 1s peaks before (c) and after annealing
(a). The arrow denotes an OH shoulder peak; BE = binding energy.
c) Composition of tubes (according to the EDX analaysis shown at the
bottom) after formation in different electrolytes (the degree of natural
carbon contamination is about 2–3 atom %). Inset: conditions for
double wall formation; O yes, X no (reproduced with permission from
Ref. [137]). d, e) SEM and TEM images of TiO2 nanotubes showing
cracks at the tube wall after annealing at 450 8C (reproduced with
permission from Ref. [35]). f) Rutile layer formed underneath the TiO2
nanotube layer after annealing at 650 8C for 3 h.
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example in the O 1s XPS peak); this amount is also considerably decreased when the material is annealed.[140, 281]
Two undesired effects that can occur in annealing are
shown in Figure 13 d–f. When annealing tubes at temperatures above 450 8C, some cracks can occur in the tube walls
(Figure 13 d,e), mostly in the OST layer (compare with
Figure 5); these cracks were considered to slow down electron
transport.[35] Furthermore, by annealing in O2-containing
atmospheres, thin rutile layers underneath the nanotube
bottoms are formed (Figure 13 f). This formation is due to
direct thermal oxidation of the titanium metal substrate to
rutile TiO2 during annealing. The higher the temperature and
the more oxidizing the conditions, the thicker the solid layer.
While the layer is typically in the range of 20–100 nm at 300–
450 8C, at higher temperatures and in an O2 environment, it
can reach micrometers in thickness. Such a rutile layer under
the nanotube bottom can detrimentally affect various applications that use electrode configurations, such as solar cells,[35]
owing to the inferior electronic properties of rutile layers
compared to anatase.
Annealing can also affect the nanotube morphology.
Usually, for extended annealing, TiO2 nanotubes are stable up
to 650 8C, but at higher temperatures the tubes start collapsing.[118] For tubes formed in ethylene glycol, the morphology
strongly depends on the ramping rate. Single-walled, doublewalled, or fused membrane structures may be obtained.[118]
Depending on the annealing ramping rate, the TiO2 nanotube
walls consist of crystallites of the range of few nm to
200 nm.[118] As shown above (Figure 12 a), conductivity
along the tubes is affected to a large extent by the heat
treatments, and therefore appropriate annealing is essential
for many applications.[35, 247] A crucial point is the formation of
Ti3+ species during heat treatments. Heat treatment in
absence of oxidizing species or in vacuum usually leads to
loss of O2 from the material and formation of Ti3+ (at least in
the near-surface region). The reduced material that is formed
shows visible light absorption and enhanced conductivity.
This effect can be regarded as introducing a doping band or a
high density of localized donor states (Ti3+ being an electron
donor species located close to the conduction band of TiO2 ;
see Figure 14 a). By usual thermal treatments, approximately
1 % of the lattice atoms may be reduced to Ti3+. A very
noticeable effect of annealing temperature is also observed in
the detailed tube wall morphology after annealing. Annealing
in different gas atmospheres, such as air, N2, O2, or a N2/H2
mixture, leads to a different anatase/rutile ratios of TiO2.[282]
4.2. Doping
Over the past 10–15 years, considerable effort has gone
into doping or bandgap engineering of TiO2 by introducing a
secondary electronically active species into the lattice. The
main thrust comes from photocatalytic or photovoltaic
applications: To exploit the solar spectrum much better, the
onset energy for light absorption needs to be decreased. The
intrinsic bandgap of 3.2 eV allows the material to absorb light
only in the UV range, which means that only about 7 % of the
solar spectrum can be absorbed.
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Figure 14. a) Distribution of energy levels introduced into the bandgap
of TiO2 (ca. 3 eV) according to various DOS calculations.[283, 286–294]
Solid lines are generally assumed to act as electronically active donor/
acceptor states. Dashed lines represent more unclear contributions
(for example, traps or uncertain position of the energy level relative to
the conduction band (CB) or valence band (VB)). s = substitutional,
i = interstitial. b) XPS spectra of various nitrogen-doping approaches
for TiO2. c) Illustration of contradicting findings to claims of a
successful solution doping approach for TiO2 nanotubes. a 2 h at
1 V (left panel) and 20 V (right panel); c 20 h at 1 V (left panel) and
20 V (right panel) (reproduced with permission from Ref. [416]).
After various early findings,[283, 284] the first report on
successful band-structure modification was by Asahi et al. in
2001.[285] The authors used nitrogen doping and interpreted
the results in terms of a valence band rise owing to a mixing of
the introduced p states of nitrogen with the O 2p states
(Figure 14). In the following years, a wide range of other
elements were explored, including other nonmetals, such as
carbon or sulfur.[286–291] At the same time, a variety of
transition metals, such as V, Cr, Mn, and Fe[283, 292–294] were
investigated, and among the transition metals, chromium and
vanadium in particular were reported to be successful in
activating a response to visible light.
The most typical methods to prepare doped TiO2 nanostructures are: 1) treating the final or growing TiO2 nanomaterials in a solution or melt of the doping species;
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2) thermal treatments or synthesis in gas atmospheres of the
doping species; 3) production of the nanomaterials by cosputtering or sputtering in an atmosphere of doping species;
4) high-energy ion implantation; and 5) the use of a substrate
of a suitable alloy or the incorporation of active electrolyte
species for TiO2 structures that grow from the metals by
electrochemical oxidation. This method will be discussed in
more detail in the section on growth of oxide tubes on alloys
(Section 5).
Approach (1) is often successfully used in precipitation
reactions, that is, hydrothermal or sol–gel processes while
growing the crystallites. A post-synthesis processing seems to
be successful only in some specific cases and only if the TiO2
crystallites are in the range of a few nanometers.[295–297]
Approach (2) is frequently used for nitrogen or carbon
doping using predominantly treatments in NH3, CO, or
acetylene.[298–301] Approach (3) is the classic approach used
by Asahi for the first successful nitrogen doping.[301]
Approach (4) is indeed a very reliable way to properly
incorporate nitrogen-containing species into the TiO2 lattice
at lower to medium doping levels.[302, 303] The drawbacks are
that maximum (reasonable) fluences of high energy accelerators, operating at 50–1000 keV, are limited to about
1018 ions cm2, and an implantation depth into the substrate
limited to several micrometers, with a somewhat inhomogeneous dopant distribution.
The most successful and most studied approach is
currently nitrogen doping. Carbon doping recently became
subject to a well-justified dispute,[291] where the effectiveness
of the approach was mainly questioned. For nitrogen and
carbon, states close to the valence band are typically
considered to be responsible for optical gap narrowing
(Figure 14 a).
There has been discussion regarding the mechanistic
nature of nitrogen doping in view of true bandgap engineering. Considering that non-metal doping typically leads to
some 2 % of nitrogen in the structure, and although this
corresponds to a comparably very high doping concentration
for a classical semiconductor, it is problematic to assume that
this concentration is sufficient to raise the bulk valence band
level by more than 0.5 eV. Therefore, it may be more
appropriate to describe the situation of nitrogen-doped
material as a high density of localized states.
Another challenge in nitrogen doping is that the various
methods to synthesize nitrogen-doped material lead to different states of nitrogen in the TiO2 bulk or on the TiO2 surface.
This may be best illustrated by considering the XPS N 1s peak
after doping treatments (Figure 14 b). Proper ion implantation of N+ and annealing leads to a peak at about 396 eV[302]
that is in line with results from sputtering TiO2 in N
environments[285] or peak positions obtained for titanium
nitrides.[304] Wet treatments in for example amine-based
solutions typically lead to peaks above 400 eV; these materials were also found to be active under visible-light illumination.[297] Peak positions above 400 eV can in many cases be
interpreted as a surface doping or sensitization, with for
example an NC compound. Nitrogen doping reactions that
result in an XPS peak of about 400 eV are very ambiguous.
This peak position is also found for molecular N2 adsorbed on
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TiO2. Although several groups reported on successful nitrogen doping with this peak position, most results show neither
visible photocurrent nor convincing visible photocatalytic
activity. One of the main difficulties in obtaining reliable
information of effective doping is that many results that have
been reported are based on plain absorption or reflectivity
measurements. In many cases, although absorption spectra
show strong alternation for any sort of treated sample, the
corresponding photocurrent spectrum does not show any
significant response (absorption that is due to, for example,
contamination of the TiO2 substrate with a visible-lightabsorbing material does not mean that electronic coupling
with TiO2 occurs). This point may indicate how critical many
claims of successful doping that are based purely on
absorption measurements rather than an optoelectronic or
electrical characterization should be regarded.
Moreover, a visible photoresponse does not automatically
imply activation for visible-light photocatalysis. Ion implantation has been reported to lead to most effective doping of
TiO2 nanotubes[302, 303] with nitrogen, and to some extent with
chromium.[305] After ion implantation, amorphization of TiO2
nanotubes occurs, and reannealing is needed to make the
nanotubes defect-free. Simpler are thermal treatments in
NH3[306] or modification by urea pyrolysis.[307] While treatment
in NH3 indeed leads to the signature of TiN formation at
396 eV in XPS spectra, urea treatments seem to lead mainly
to some surface sensitization with CN=C and CNH2
groups. However, such surface-modified nanotubes show a
significant photoresponse in the visible range compared to
non-modified nanotubes.
A particularly straightforward approach to dope anodic
oxides is the use of an alloy as a substrate. For example,
nitrogen doping of TiO2 nanotubes can also be carried out by
using TiN containing titanium alloy substrates.[205] Such
substrates can be made with pure titanium and TiN powder
by arc melting. Other elements were also explored for alloy
doping, such as tungsten and niobium.[224, 308] Regarding
bandgap engineering, a most interesting element is tungsten,
as the introduction of WO3 into the TiO2 structure can be
expected to lead to conduction band lowering (Figure 14 a).
For tubes, considerable effort went into solution-based
doping; however, efforts are questionable, as XPS peaks
located at 400 eV (adsorbed species) were mostly obtained
for nitrogen; visible absorption can be ascribed to carbon
contamination for tubes prepared in organic electrolytes,
which originates from decomposition of the organic electrolyte under the applied voltage.[118, 138] Some reports claim an
increase in nitrogen doping by extended anodization:[309] such
results however could not be convincingly confirmed (Figure 14 c). Highly successful carbon doping and conversion of
the tubes can be achieved using acetylene.[212, 299]
4.3. Conversion of Tubes (Titanates, Semimetallic Phases)
TiO2 nanotubes can comparably easily be converted into
their perovskite oxide. Perovskite materials, such as lead
titanate (PbTiO3), barium titanate (BaTiO3), strontium titanate (SrTiO3), and lead zirconium titanate (PbZrTiO3), show
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a variety of interesting piezoelectric or ferroelectric properties.[310] There are several chemical approaches to fabricate
MTiO3 (M = Sr, Ba, Pb) directly from the TiO2 bulk powder,
for example by the sol–gel method or hydrothermal/solvothemal process, or template-assisted processes.[173, 174, 311–313]
However, a simple way to convert anodically grown TiO2
nanotube arrays into their titanates is to treat them hydrothermally in presence of corresponding precursor solution.
For example, fabrication of BaTiO3, SrTiO3, or mixed
BaxSr(1x)TiO3 perovskites by a hydrothermal treatment of
TiO2 nanotube arrays has been reported.[314–318] Although
comparably successful, there are concerns that the highpressure autoclave environment affects the bonding of
titanate tubes to the surface, and therefore other approaches
to convert self-organized TiO2 nanotubes into PbTiO3 were
explored.[317] For example, lead was electrodeposited into the
TiO2 nanotube arrays, followed by an appropriate heat
treatment. By this approach, highly ordered piezoelectric
PbTiO3 nanocellular layers with uniform structure and
defined dimension over large surface areas were achieved.
Titanium zirconate tube formation was reported by anodization of an appropriate alloy followed by adequate heat
treatment.[124, 172, 189] Moreover, alkaline hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 nanotubes can convert the material into
protonated titanates, which are also promising for applications in catalysis, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, lithium
batteries, hydrogen storage, and solar-cell technologies.[15, 65, 319]
A highly promising approach of converting the semiconducting TiO2 nanotubes into semimetallic TiOxCy has
been reported recently.[212] By a carbothermal reduction
treatment in acetylene at temperatures above 800 8C and by
using short times to prevent collapse of the tubes, nanotube
layers were attained that showed stable metallic conductivity.
The conductivity of the TiOxCy tubes is in the range of
graphite; optically the material shows a metal-type of photoresponse, and also capacitance measurements of TiOxCy
nanotube electrodes shows a semimetallic behavior. The
material possess a high overpotential for oxygen evolution
and thus is promising for a wide range of electrochemical
applications, such as a catalyst support in the field of fuel cells
and other applications that require very high electron
conductivity.
4.4. Filling and Decoration
An approach related to doping is the modification of TiO2
surfaces with nanoparticles (metals, semiconductors, polymers). In all of these cases, essentially three beneficial effects
are expected: 1) heterojunction formation that either changes
the band bending (metal clusters on semiconductor) or
provides suitable energy levels for charge injection, such as
in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs); 2) catalytic effects for
charge-transfer reactions, such as reaction of O2 in photocatalytic particles; 3) surface plasmon effects, leading for
example to field enhancement in the vicinity of metal
particles and thus allowing more efficient charge transfer.
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For TiO2 nanotubes, several approaches for decoration or
filling with different foreign materials (metals or metal
oxides) have been reported (Figure 15). Electrodeposition
reactions into TiO2 nanotubes essentially provide a very
versatile way to fill or decorate oxide nanotubes. In the case of
Figure 15. Examples of TiO2 nanotube filling with a) electrodeposited
copper (reproduced with permission from Ref. [320]), b) decoration
with NiO nanoparticles (reproduced with permission from Ref. [323]),
c) Fe3O4 nanoparticles,[324] and d) TiO2 nanoparticles (reproduced with
permission from Ref. [322]).
TiO2 nanotube layers, several factors hamper an easy, direct
electrodeposition: TiO2 is an n-type semiconductor, thus a
cathodic potential needed for electrodeposition of metals
represents forward bias; as a result, the tube walls have such a
high conductivity that deposition occurs preferentially on top
of the layers rather than within the tubes.[320] This effect is
even amplified if the cathodic potential is negative to the
Ti4+!Ti3+ potential, as the formed Ti3+ species acts as
additional dopant. Therefore, careful consideration of the
experimental conditions is essential to achieve successful
metal filling. A successful strategy for complete filling is to
first carry out reductive self-doping of only the nanotube
bottoms by selective Ti3+ formation, which then allows
electrodeposition to start at the tube bottom and then fill
the tubes from bottom to top.[320] This approach was used to
electrodeposit Cu in the tubes, and this kind of copper-filled
nanotubes may be used as one step for establishing the p–n
heterojunctions (Cu2O-TiO2) in solid-state solar energy
devices.
Oxide nanoparticle decoration of for example WO3[321] or
TiO2[322] can be obtained by slow hydrolysis of precursors,
such as TiCl4 or WCl5. In DSSCs, the TiO2 nanotubes
decorated with TiO2 nanoparticles show higher solar cell
efficiency in comparison to neat TiO2 nanotubes. The TiO2
nanoparticles 2–3 nm in size can be deposited inside as well as
outside of the tube wall by hydrolysis of a TiCl4 solution,
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which significantly increases the surface area and thereby
lated electrons from a HOMO–LUMO transition in the
improves the solar-cell efficiency.[322] While the beneficial
adsorbed molecule can be injected to the conduction band of
effect is surface area increase in the case of TiO2 nanoparticle
the TiO2, as will be discussed in more detail in Section 6.2.
decoration, with WO3 nanoparticles, junction formation
between TiO2 and the misaligned bands of WO3 can also be
expected.
4.5. Monolayers
An approach to TiO2 nanotube filling with nickel oxide
nanoparticles by using a sufficiently slow precipitation
TiO2 and TiO2 nanotube surfaces can be modified
reaction of Ni(OH)2 followed by a suitable thermal treatment
relatively easily by covalent attachment of organic monohas recently been presented.[323] Such nanotubes show siglayers.[138, 177, 333–336] The attachment typically occurs at hydroxnificant photoelectrochemical activity under visible light,
ide-terminated surface sites by a condensation reaction with
possibly by charge injection from NiO states to the conphosphonates, silanes, or carboxylates (splitting off small
duction band of TiO2.
molecules, such as H2O or HCl) and leading to a covalent
A very simple but highly successful approach involves
bond between a substrate oxygen and the anchor group
filling TiO2 nanotubes with a suspension of magnetic Fe3O4
(Figure 16 a). Organic monolayers are attached onto TiO2
nanoparticles.[324] By placing a permanent magnet under a
surfaces mainly because of one of the following intentions:
tube layer, a ferrofluid swiftly enters the tubes and the TiO2
1) to change the surface wettability, 2) to modify the biocomnanotubes can be very homogeneously filled with magnetic
patibility (drug delivery, bioactivation), 3) to obtain chemical
nanoparticles. Such magnetic tubes can be used in guiding and
or biochemical sensors, and 4) to attach an electron injection
release applications.[324]
system (DSSCs).
In general, the quality of the monolayer (packing density,
Decoration of TiO2 nanotubes by noble metal nanoattachment strength) is in the order phosphonate > silane >
particles (such as Au, Ag, and Pt) also can be carried out to
carboxylate. It should, however, be noted that if chargeenhance their photocatalytic activity.[275, 325, 326] Silver nanotransfer reactions across the attached molecule are important,
particles can be deposited on the tube wall by photocatalytisuch as in charge-injection sensors[337] or DSSCs (see Seccally reducing Ag+ on a TiO2 surface by UV illumination.[325]
Other metal nanoparticles are preferably deposited by UHV evaporation or chemical reduction techniques.[274, 325] Ag/TiO2 nanotubes
show a significantly higher photocatalytic activity compared with Au/
TiO2 nanotubes.[325] Silver-decorated
tubes significantly enhanced the performance of DSSCs.[327] TiO2 nanotubes filled with zeolites were also
very promising and show an interesting photocatalytic activity.[328]
TiO2 nanotubes can also be decorated by narrow-bandgap semiconductors, such as CdS, CdSe, PbS
quantum dots.[329–332] These quantum
dots can be deposited on the nanotube wall electrochemically, by
sequential chemical bath deposition
methods, or by chemical treatment in
presence of cadmium precursors.
Such CdS/CdSe quantuam dots with
a bandgap of 2–2.4 eV can absorb
light in the visible range and inject
the excited electron quickly into
TiO2, thus performing as a photoelectrochemical solar cell. To date,
such photoelectrochemical solar cell Figure 16. a) Examples of monolayer attachment on TiO2 (from left to right): surface condensation
reaction; alkane phosphonate attachment (creating hydrophobic surface); APTES attachment
shows efficiencies of about 4 %.[330]
Another very useful principle is (bifunctional linker for other molecules, (e.g., proteins etc.); APTES coupled to ferrocene (electrochemically switchable group); and carboxylate coupling (DSSCs). b) The effect of different
to attach organic dyes (or any other
monolayers on wetting of TiO2 nanotube surfaces and c) the effect of the tube diameter on ODPAmolecule that has suitable HOMO– coated NTs d . & as reported in Ref. [343], * as reported in Ref. [417]. d) SEM image of microNT
LUMO orbitals) to TiO2 surfaces. scopic wetting of TiO2 nanotube surfaces, showing that wetting takes place preferentially between
The principle is that optically stimu- tubes (reproduced with permission from Ref. [181]).
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tion 6.2), the electronic properties of the anchoring groups are
crucial. For example, in DSSCs charge transfer from a dye
molecule to the TiO2 conduction band is significantly faster
for COO groups than for silanes.
As Ti/TiO2 is the most used biomedical implant material
worldwide, it is highly interesting to modify the surface with
additional biorelevant molecules. To link active organic
entities (mainly enzymes, proteins, or DNA) to TiO2 surfaces,
bifunctional molecules such as APTES[138, 144, 177, 281] that carry
for example a terminal NH2 group are attached. These or
similar linkage methods enable further covalent attachment
of virtually any organic species.[338–341]
Of interest in this context is the fact that some linker
molecules, such as APTES with a silane and an opposite NH2
linker group, show a different reactivity on amorphous,
anatase, and rutile polycrystalline surfaces;[281] even the
degree of reverse attachment (coordination of the NH2
group) varies with TiO2 crystal structure. A specific feature
of almost all monolayers attached on TiO2 is that they can be
cut by photocatalytic reactions[177, 335, 342, 343] or by voltageinduced reactions.[138] This principle was used for various drug
and other payload release processes from dispersed TiO2
nanotube bundles or from nanotube electrode surfaces.[144, 177, 324, 344]
The organic modification of nanotubes combined with a
photocatalytic reaction was used to create surfaces that could
be adjusted to have essentially any desired wettability
property[335, 343] (that is, a water contact angle from 08 to
1708).[335, 343] Nanotube layers as such (amorphous or crystalline) are super-hydrophilic; only when treated with a suitable
monolayer do they become superhydrophobic.[335, 343] Upon
UV irradiation, chain scission occurs, which makes the surface
increasingly hydrophilic with the duration of illumination. In
this approach, the achievable superhydrophobicity depends
on the tube diameter[343] (Figure 16 c), and overall wettability
behavior is in accord with the Cassie–Baxter model.[345]
To fill super-hydrophobic tubes with a liquid (with for
example an electrolyte), organic solvents are needed, which is
the key to filling hydrophobic tubes or to fabricate amphiphilic tubes (see Section 6.5).[177] Of interest in this context is,
however, a very recent observation that on the microscopic
level, all TiO2 nanotube layers (non-modified and modified)
show preferential wetting between the tubes rather than
inside the tube.[181] This observation is in line with those for
dry anatase tubes: the inside of the tubes is not easily filled by
aqueous electrolytes.[346]
Another elegant way to adjust the wettability of nanotube
layers is by applying mixed monolayers with a different
degree of polarity or even actively switchable polarity. Such
mixed monolayers of N-(3-triethoxysilyl)propylferrocenecarboxamide and perfluorotriethoxysilane were used to demonstrate electrical redox switching of attached ferrocene molecules and thus to induce alterations of the wettability on
TiO2 nanotube layers accordingly.[347]
5. Oxide Nanotube Layers on Other Transition
Metals and Alloys
The principle used to grow oxide nanotubes on titanium
by using a dilute fluoride electrolyte can be transferred to a
considerable range of other metals and alloys (Figure 17).
Depending on the exact electrochemical conditions, organized nanotubular or nanoporous structures were reported for
several other valve metals, such as Zr,[164, 348–352] Hf,[163, 166]
W,[74, 353–356] Nb,[357, 358] Ta[359–363] Fe,[364–366] and Mg.[367] To
obtain highly organized high-aspect-ratio structures for each
case, some optimization of the electrochemical conditions
specific to the element or alloy is needed, and this has not yet
been achieved for all of the elements, which is also apparent
from the SEM top and cross-sectional images shown in
Figure 17. The optimized conditions are different for each
case and the ease by which optimal self-organizing conditions
Figure 17. Cross-sectional and top-view SEM images of ordered oxide
nanotube or nanopore layers electrochemically grown on different
valve metals and metal alloys.
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and high aspect ratios can be established varies significantly
for the different elements. For zirconium and hafnium, highaspect-ratio smooth tubes can be achieved very easily under a
wide range of parameters. Other extremes may be non-valve
metals, such as iron, where high-aspect-ratio oxide structures
were reported only very recently,[364–366] or WO3 structures, for
which still no highly ordered and only comparably short tube
structures were reported.[353, 355, 368–370] The main reasons for
this different behavior can be ascribed to following factors:
1) the solubility of a formed oxide structure in the anodizing
electrolyte affects the aspect ratio, 2) the solubility of the
fluoride species (or any other sensitizer) at cell boundaries
affects tube or pore morphology and the observation of
sidewall ripples, 3) different Pilling–Bedworth ratios that
affect stress that is generated when the oxide is formed,
thus the adhesion of the tube layer to the substrate or the tube
length (overshoot by plastic flow) and the self-organization
length scale are also affected.
Many of the nanostructures that are formed have very
interesting properties. For example, WO3 nanotubes/pores
show excellent ion intercalation properties (electrochromic
devices, charge storage)[66, 69, 70, 224, 321, 355, 371–373] or enhanced
photoelectrochemical properties.[374, 375] For ZrO2 nanotubes,
bright visible luminescence[376] has been reported. An even
wider field, in view of varying properties, is provided by using
alloyed metal substrates for anodization, for example to tune
ionic, electronic, or optical properties of the tube layers.
However, to obtain ideal tube layers and defect-free homogeneous ordering of tubes over a large surface area, the alloys
should be single-phase (to avoid different etching/anodization
rates on different phases), and growth is achieved more easily
if the elements involved are valve metals.
Accordingly, self-organized oxide nanotube/pore layers of
a reasonable quality have been reported on binary alloys, such
as TiNb,[188, 308] TiZr,[124, 126, 172, 189] TiTa,[190, 361, 377] TiW,[224]
TiMo,[378] TiAl,[158, 159] and on ternary[191, 192] and more complex
alloy systems.[379, 186] Alloy anodization thus enables the
growth of mixed anodic oxides with tailored and improved
properties for a wide range of applications.[190, 192, 224, 308, 378, 379]
For example, nanotubular layers grown on TiNb and TiW
show not only the feature that geometry can be adjusted over
a wider range,[224, 308, 380] but also show highly enhanced
intercalation properties.[308] It is also interesting that in the
case of titanium alloys, small amounts of the alloying element
can drastically affect the properties while the unique nanotubular morphology is completely retained. For example, TiW
(0.2 atom %) and TiMo (7 wt %) alloys show a strongly
enhanced electrochromic response and improved photocatalytic properties.[224, 371, 378, 381]
On all of the pure metals and alloys that have been
explored to date, the nanotubular oxide layers are amorphous, and in each case they can be easily transformed to a
crystalline structure by an adequate annealing treatment.[189, 224, 308, 368, 376, 378] After alloy anodization, the composition of the oxide in general is consistent with the ratio in the
alloy. In the case of anodic oxide layers on TiAl alloys, the
film is composed of (TiO2)n and (Al2O3)m, where m and n are
the respective fractions of the base alloy TinAlm.[382] In some
cases, minor amounts of mixed oxides may also be present in
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the anodic oxides. Full conversion to a mixed oxide was only
reported for TiZr.[189] It is also interesting to note that for most
elements and alloys, ordered tubular and nanoporous morphologies have been observed, and transitions from one to
another can be achieved (for example, TiAl, TiNb, and
TiTa).[159, 308, 361, 383] However, owing to the difference in
chemistry (solubility of the oxide in fluoride and solubility
of the respective metal fluorides in different solutions), most
elements appear to have a preferred morphology, that is, a
morphology that dominates under most anodization conditions. For example, on zirconium and hafnium, nanotubular
anodic oxides are usually observed, whereas on aluminum,
niobium, and tantalum, nanoporous morphologies are usually
obtained. For tantalum, extreme conditions are required to
obtain a tubular morphology.[363] In the case of alloys, the
morphology follows the specific oxide morphology of the
major alloying element.
A highly interesting phenomenon that was observed for
several alloys but is still is not well understood is selforganization at two length scales,[37, 186, 187, 190, 191] by which two
distinct tube diameters are formed during anodization (a
large center tube surrounded by smaller tubes, repeated over
the entire anodized area). The simultaneous ordered formation and stabilization of two tube diameters is currently
ascribed to availability of current at the different tips,[37] but
the phenomenon seems to be far from satisfactorily
explained.
In general, it can be said that all investigated organized
oxide structures grown by anodization in fluoride-containing
electrolytes on different metals or alloys seem to follow the
same growth principles and key factors: The diameter of the
tube is determined by the anodization voltage, etching of the
tubes (and thus the achievable length of the tubes) depends
on the chemical resistance of the oxide against fluoride
etching (in a particular electrolyte), and water plays the key
role for providing the oxygen source for tube growth, splits
pores into tubes, and is responsible for sidewall ripple
formation.
Obviously, anodization techniques in fluoride-containing
electrolytes allow the fabrication of nanostructured oxide
layers on an extremely wide range of alloys that enable the
tailored fabrication of mixed nanostructured oxides with
virtually endless possibilities to create enhanced properties,
and therefore have also a very high and widely unexplored
technological potential.
6. Applications
Applications of TiO2 nanostructures usually involve the
exploitation of some unique feature of TiO2 (electronic, ionic,
or biocompatibility properties) and a significant enhancement
of some reaction or transport rates that is obtained by using
small scale dimensions (large surface area, short diffusion
path, or size confinement effects). Using nanotubular assemblies also provides a preferred dimensionality to the system.
Tubes grown on a metal substrate are vertically aligned to a
back contact; that is, a direction for charge transfer towards
the electrode is established. Nanotube layers provide well-
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defined top openings and are thus suitable for size-selective
applications (filters) or for templating secondary material.
The inside volume is well-defined and regular, thus applications, such as nano test tubes[384] are promising. In the
following sections, we give an overview of current efforts
towards TiO2 nanotube applications.
6.1. Photocatalysis and Dark Photocatalysis
TiO2 is the most photocatalytically active material for the
decomposition of organic materials (for example, it is used for
degradation of organic pollutants).[28, 38, 197, 198, 385–387] The reason
for this high activity are the band-edge positions relative to
typical environments (such as water). The basic principles
involved in the photocatalytic mechanism are shown in
Figure 18. UV light promotes electrons from the valence
band to the conduction band; holes and electrons will be
separated (under the field of the Schottky junction with the
environment), reach the semiconductor–environment interface, and react with appropriate redox species in the environment. Several highly reactive species are generated for
example from the surrounding water by charge exchange at
the valence band (H2O + h+!OHC) and at the conduction
band (O2 + e !O2). These radicals and peroxo ions are able
to virtually oxidize all organic materials to CO2 and H2O.
Furthermore, at the valence band, direct h+ transfer to
adsorbed species to initiate decomposition may also be
considered.
Alternatively, apart from decomposition of organics, h+
and e can react with H2O to form H2 and O2 ; that is, direct
splitting of water can be achieved. At the conduction band,
the situation is such that the redox potentials for O2 !O2 and
H+!1/2H2 are very close. In other words, H2 generation and
O2 formation are typically competing. At the valence band,
O2 can be formed from water by various pathways, including
radicals that can (if not otherwise used) react finally to O2.
The reaction rates of the photocatalytic processes on pure
TiO2 are typically limited by the charge-transfer process to a
suitable redox species. Therefore, at the valence band,
catalysts such as platinum are used to promote for example
H2 evolution, and hole-capture agents such as CH3OH are
often used to promote the overall reaction rate.
However, as discussed in previous sections, although TiO2
has very suitable band-edge positions for high photocatalytic
activity, the bandgap of about 3 eV allows only UV light to be
efficiently used. To achieve visible-light-driven processes, a
large number of bandgap-engineering (doping) approaches,
as discussed in Section 4.2, have been explored with TiO2. The
method that has been most investigated for photocatalysis is
N-doping, as it is perceived to be the most efficient measure to
stimulate a visible photocurrent response. However, the
success of N-doping to achieve visible photocatalytic activity
is somewhat questionable if the photocatalytic reaction is
indeed valence-band-dominated (that is, h+ transfer to the
electrolyte is the dominating reaction). As N-doping raises
the valence band edge (Figure 14), the h+ leaves the semiconductor at a lower energy (less anodic redox potential),
which is possibly not sufficient to decompose H2O to OHC or
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Figure 18. Photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotubes: a) the mechanism
(photoinduced formation of electron–hole pairs and reaction with
surroundings). b) Dark photocatalysis: sufficient voltage-induced
band-bending creates valence band holes (h+) that can react with the
environment, in analogy to photon-induced hole (h+) generation.[138]
c) Photocatalytic activity of various nanotubes measured as decomposition rates of organic compounds (AO7; C0 = 2.5 105 m) and including a comparison to the dark photocatalysis mechanism.
to achieve direct decomposition of the organic material. The
fact that in some cases a visible photocatalytic effect (mostly
very mild) was found for N-doped material could then be
attributed to O2 generation by the conduction band. In other
words, in many cases of photocatalytic degradation of a
specific organic molecule, the active reaction path depends on
the molecules energy states that may prefer to interact
(overlap) with either valence-band or conduction-band
levels.[198]
Nevertheless, all of the photocatalytic applications have in
common the fact that a higher overall reaction rate is
achieved using high-surface-area geometries. Thus, reactions
are commonly performed using suspended nanoparticles or
nanoparticulate electrodes. Ordered nanotube arrangements
offer various advantages over nanoparticulate assemblies, as
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their defined geometry provides very defined retention times
in nanoscopic photoreactors.[123, 388] Moreover, the 1D geometry may allow a fast carrier transport and thus less unwanted
recombination losses.
A first investigation to this end[388] has shown that TiO2
nanotubes can indeed have a higher photocatalytic reactivity
than a comparable nanoparticulate layer. Although various
factors may be responsible for this effect (optimized reaction
geometry for charge transfer, UV absorption characteristics
over the tube, solution diffusion effects), the work triggered
intense follow-up investigations. It was shown that particle
decoration with silver or gold led to a significantly increased
photocatalytic activity,[325] and that also applying an external
anodic voltage drastically enhances the photocatalytic activity.[138, 389] These findings suggest that in the investigated cases,
a valence-band mechanism dominates, and the observed
accelerating effects have a common origin in increased band
bending, either by junction formation or by the applied
voltage.[38]
To increase the photocatalytic activity, various mixedoxide tube layers were used, such as TiMo or TiW.[381, 390] A
compilation of the photocatalytic results is shown in Figure 18 c. Clearly, a highly beneficial effect is observed for
tungsten and molybdenum that cannot be explained by a
better charge transport in the tubes but must be ascribed to
modification of the surface state distribution at the nanotubes.[38, 381, 390] Visible photocatalysis was shown for TiW oxide
tubes[390] and to some degree for carbon-doped TiO2 nanotubes regarding water splitting,[298, 21, 391, 392] although there is
considerable dispute on its effectiveness,[291] and for TaON
nanotubes.[393]
A very spectacular possibility to use TiO2 nanotubes in
photocatalytic applications is to produce free-standing flowthrough membranes,[123, 193] as they allow extremely defined
photocatalytic interactions (highly defined interaction times)
combined with a filtration capability.
Another intriguing specific feature of TiO2 photocatalysis
is the ability to induce chain scission in attached organic
monolayers (see Section 4.5). This feature can be used to
create extremely well-defined wettability on surfaces[335, 343] or
to liberate terminal payload molecules from the surface upon
UV illumination. This was used for example to construct
various drug-release systems.[138, 177, 333–336] Of interest and
common to all approaches is the fact that chain scission
(photocatalytic or voltage-induced) occurs after the anchoring group (a silane or phosphonate). The reaction may thus be
based on a direct h+-induced chain scission as the diffusion
range (lifetime) of OHC radicals is typically comparably long
(0.1–10 mm).[22] This hypothesis is further supported by the
fact that a release of intact activemolecules, such as dyes, from
TiO2 nanotubes can be observed after chain scission; [144, 177, 324]
if OHC formation was the main mechanism, the dye would be
decomposed before it is able to leave the tubes.
A particularly interesting concept in the field of photocatalysis is the combination of the TiO2 nanotube geometry
with molecule-selective binding units, for example zeolites.[328, 394] Considering that zeolite structures can be tailored
for selective absorption of a considerable range of organic
molecules, they can for example be used to concentrate dilute
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
pollutants. If the zeolites are filled in TiO2 nanotube layers or
membranes, the pollutant molecules in the zeolite can be
accumulated and then be photocatalytically decomposed.
Thus the zeolite is regenerated and a significantly enhanced
photocatalytic activity be achieved. It is crucial that the
lifetime of a photocatalytically generated OHC radical is on
the order of 10 ms, which corresponds to a penetration range
of several hundred nanometers to several micrometers from
the generated surface into the electrolyte; this length scale fits
extremely well to inner dimensions of TiO2 nanotubes.
In view of biomedical uses (drug delivery, fighting cancer),
X-ray-induced photocatalysis was used to liberate drugs from
the surfaces of TiO2 nanotubes[344] or to directly kill cancer
cells.[395] X-ray catalysis is crucial for any in vivo application as
X-ray-induced reactions would allow intervention-free therapy (stimulation can take place directly through the human
body; the energy of the X-rays then determines the penetration depth of the activating irradiation). Furthermore, it
was recently demonstrated that electron-beam-induced photocatalytic reactions can occur in the vacuum of a scanning
electron microscope using ionic liquids as a non-volatile
solvent.[181, 396]
Regarding photocatalytic reactions, it should also be
mentioned that a similar reaction (Figure 18 b) can be
triggered in the absence of light on anatase TiO2 and TiO2
nanotube surfaces if sufficiently doped.[138] If a voltage is
applied to the material that causes anodic Schottky barrier
breakdown,[397, 398] that is, valence-band holes are created that
react with environment in a similar manner as photogenerated holes (OHC radical formation, destruction of organic and
organic monolayers). TiO2 nanotubes, when annealed, have a
suitable doping concentration (ca. 1018–1019 cm3) and by
applying voltage (> 3 V), ionization of the valence band
occurs and holes are generated that leave the TiO2 to the
environment (at E = Evs). This dark photocatalysis approach
may be particularly useful in environments where the use of
UV light is hampered, for example in MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) devices or a lab-on-a-chip that require a
photocatalytic reaction or a self-cleaning step in the dark.
6.2. Solar Cells
Another very attractive application of TiO2 is its use in
solar cells. Dye sensitization of TiO2 was extensively investigated in about 1970. After the work of Gerischer and
Tributsch in 1968,[23] the first report on ruthenium bypyridyl
sensitization on TiO2 appeared in 1980,[24] and in 1991, Grtzel
and ORegan[25] used this principle to fabricate a full DSSC in
which the photon-absorber layer was made of TiO2 nanoparticulates that were dye coated (Figure 19 a). This assembly
reached an efficiency of about 11 %. The principle of
DSSC[35, 399] involves a dye that absorbs light in the visible
range and thereby excites electrons from the HOMO to the
LUMO level, followed by a rapid injection of the excited
electron into the conduction band of TiO2. The electrons
travel through the TiO2 layer to the back contact; meanwhile,
the oxidized dye on the surface is regenerated by an I/I3
electrolyte. Losses by recombination may happen principally
2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Figure 19. a) A TiO2 nanoparticle/tube-based dye-sensitized solar cell.
b) Comparison of results for solar-cell performances of TiO2 nanotube
layers used in DSSCs (non-modified by TiCl4).[322] d) Estimation of
electron-diffusion length (Ln) TiO2 nanotubes from the experimental
values of Dn and tc by taking the quasi Fermi level (QFL) into account
(reproduced with permission from Ref. [403]).
in three ways: 1) After electron excitation from the HOMO
to the LUMO level of the dye, de-excitation of the electron
occurs in a radiative or non-radiative path; 2) after injection
of the electron in the conduction band of TiO2, it may
recombine with the oxidized dye; and 3) the electron may
recombine with the I3 ion in the electrolyte.
In general, the rate-limiting factor is the dynamic competition between the electron transport through the TiO2 and
the interfacial recombination of electrons.[400] An oftenaddressed critical issue for losses in nanoparticulate DSSCs
is carrier recombination at grain boundaries (owing to the
presence of trapping states) and long carrier diffusion paths
(random walk) through the TiO2 network. Therefore, replacing the TiO2 nanoparticulate photoanode with a TiO2 nanotubular layer in particular reduces recombination probabilities and provides a directed (ideally one-dimensional)
electron traveling path.[35] Since the first efforts to dyesensitize TiO2 nanotube arrays,[401] where efficiencies of only
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0.036 % were reached, approximately 5 % solar cell conversion efficiency has meanwhile been achieved for tubularbased systems.[402] However, it must be clearly distinguished
between cases where pure TiO2 nanotubes are
used[119, 179, 280, 403] and cases where the nanotubes were additionally treated with TiCl4 (decoration with TiO2 nanoparticles) or mixed with TiO2 nanoparticles.[322, 404, 405] Of course, the
observed effects (efficiency, dye loading, transport times,
reaction kinetics) can only be unambiguously ascribed to the
nanotubes in cases where plain TiO2 nanotubes were used; in
mixed cases, effects may even be dominated by the added
TiO2 nanoparticles. For pure TiO2 nanotube layers, the record
efficiency stands at 5.2 %,[402] for mixtures with nanoparticles
at 7 %.[404] Some critical factors were recently discussed and
reviewed.[35, 280]
A very interesting study has shown that a much higher
electron diffusion length can be achieved in nanotubes than in
nanoparticles;[403] in fact, from combined electron lifetime/
diffusion measurements, it was deduced that electron diffusion lengths of 100 mm (Figure 19 c) should be achievable.
However experimentally, 15–20 mm long nanotubes show the
maximum solar cell efficiency (see also Figure 19 b), which is
mainly ascribed to a loss of surface adhesion for longer tube
layers or disordered tube tops that increasingly appear with
longer anodization times (see Section 2.7).[402]
Nanotube layers annealed between 350 and 450 8C in air
form anatase tubes, which proved to be more efficient than
the rutile phase, as the electron transport is faster in anatase
TiO2 than in rutile.[227, 280] A temperature of 450 8C and
complete anatase conversion is reported to be the optimum
annealing condition to achieve high-efficiency solar cells.[35, 280]
As discussed in several works,[179, 280, 322, 403] the overall
efficiency-limiting factor in TiO2 nanotube-based solar cells is
specific dye loading; that is, the specific surface area of the
tubes (BET 30 m2 g1) is considerably smaller than comparable nanoparticulate layers (BET 80–100 m2g1). Several
strategies to increase the specific surface area in tube systems
have been explored, such as the above-mentioned TiCl4
treatment[322, 404–406] or modifying the tube walls by creating
bamboo-type structures or double-walled nanotubes.[179, 280]
The geometry of the tube tops is very crucial (see for example
Ref. [402]), and several approaches have been reported for
removing inhomogeneity (surface nanograss) from the tube
tops.[119, 184, 402] To further increase the efficiency, Tsuchiya
et al.[327] introduced a new concept by showing that using
silver-decorated TiO2 nanotubes, an enhancement of the
conversion efficiency for DSSCs can be obtained. This effect
may either be due to plasmon enhancement or junction
formation. Some variations in TiO2 nanotubes, such as that
formed by rapid-breakdown anodization (RBA), show promising improvement regarding the photoconversion efficiency.[75, 79] Recently, an anodic self-organized TiO2 mesosponge/nanochannel layer was reported that has a significantly higher specific surface area than tubular layers, and it
seems to be capable of outperforming nanotube layers in the
field of TiO2-based solar cells and other applications.[80–82]
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TiO2 Nanotubes
6.3. Electrochromic Devices
Various transition-metal oxides, such as MnO2, WO3,
Nb2O5, MoO3, and TiO2, provide an excellent host lattice for
ion intercalation devices, for example, lithium ion batteries or
electrochromic devices.[29, 65, 407, 408] These devices rely on a
reversible uptake of small ions such as H+ and Li+ into
interstitial positions of the metal oxide upon applying and
releasing an electric field.
In the case of transition metal oxides, ion uptake and
release are frequently combined with a change in the redox
state of the material and a resulting change in the electronic
and optical properties of the material. For example, lithium
ion intercalation into TiO2, accompanied with reduction of
Ti4+ at the lattice to Ti3+, changes the apparent bandgap of the
material from the UV to the visible range (with Eg 2.2 eV;
see also Figure 15), which leads to a blue coloration of the
material [Eq. (8)].[273, 409]
Mixed TiW, TiMo, and TiNb oxide nanotubes turned out
to be very efficient (see Figure 20 b). Of interest is the fact
that for most nanotube systems, an optimized condition of the
secondary element exists by which an optimum effect can be
achieved. TiNb oxide nanotubes are particularly spectacular
in scientific terms,[188, 308] for which it could be shown that the
addition of niobium to TiO2 leads to a widening of the anatase
lattice.[308] This not only drastically accelerates ion intercalation, lowers the threshold voltage, and makes the material
much more durable in repeated switching experiments; it also
allows for the reversible intercalation of much larger sodium
ions, which cannot usually be intercalated into anatase under
low-voltage conditions and at room temperature. Other work
has shown that TiO2 nanotube layers can be lifted off from the
metallic titanium substrate and be transferred onto conducting glass[411] or by complete anodization of titanium layers on
conducting glass[412] to construct transparent effective electrochromic devices (Figure 20 a).
6.4. Cell Interaction and Biomedical Coatings
A very important application of titanium surface modification is in biomedical applications. About 40 % of todays
The currently most active electrochromic
material is WO3. As a nanoparticle layer, it
shows the lowest threshold voltage for intercalation and color switching, the highest color contrast,
and is cyclable over 1000 times in commercial
devices with a comparably small deterioration of
the effect. In aquous environments and for pH
values of 12–13, H+ is the dominating intercalation
species, even in presence of high Li+ concentrations owing to the much lower radius of the
solvated ion. The rate-limiting step for ion intercalation is a solid-state diffusion/migration process
of the small ion into the host lattice and therefore
the switching kinetics is typically comparably slow
(seconds). To achieve short diffusion paths, nanoscale materials are highly desired, and most
commercial devices consist of layers of compacted
nanoparticles. At reasonable applied voltages (1–
2 V) and moderate times (seconds), a compact
layer can typically be intercalated to a depth of
approximately 5–10 nm. This length scale is ideal
for penetration of TiO2 nanotube walls (with wall
thicknesses in the range of 5–30 nm). Moreover,
the vertical alignment makes the nanotube geometry ideal for maximizing the optical contrast
(Figure 20 a).
After the first report on electrochromic switching using TiO2 nanotubes,[410] a large body of work
followed that optimized contrast, switching time,
threshold voltage, and cyclability by using other
oxide nanotubes/porous oxides, such as WO3, or by
using
doped (mixed-oxide)
TiO2 nanotubes.[224, 308, 321, 355, 371, 378]
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
Figure 20. a) Electrochromic device based on TiO2 nanotubes fabricated by complete anodization of sputter-deposited thin titanium film, making it transparent, on
conducting glass (reproduced with permission from Ref. [405]). b) Comparison of
color-switching transients for Ti, TiNb, and TiW oxide nanotubes for H+ and Li+
intercalation and voltage dependence of contrast DR and threshold voltage UT for
the different nanotube layers. Open symbols 0.1 m H2SO4, filled symbols 1 m LiClO4
in PC (propylene carbonate).
2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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biomedical implant materials are based on titanium or
titanium alloys.[39] TiO2 nanotubular surfaces are ideal for
studying and applying size effects with living matter or
biologically relevant species. Not only can the diameter of the
tube surfaces be accurately adjusted to virtually any value
between 10–250 nm,[132] but owing to the self-organizing
nature, entire, even complex shaped surfaces (such as
dental-implant screws or hip implants) can be coated easily
with such nanotube layers.[413]
First work on size-dependent cell interactions in 2007[122]
showed that mesenchymal stem cells react in a very pronounced way to the diameter of nanotubes. Diameters of
about 15 nm strongly promote cell adhesion, proliferation,
and differentiation, and tube diameters of about 100 nm were
found to be detrimental, as they induced programmed cell
death (apoptosis).
The work resulted in further studies[414] with partially
conflicting outcomes, and a range of questions were brought
forward, such as the role of TiO2 crystallinity, the remaining
fluoride concentration, or the role of the cell type and surface
pretreatment. However, subsequent work[415–419] showed
clearly that the size effect, that is, a cell-stimulating influence
for tube layers with a diameter of 15 nm, is of a virtually
universal nature (Figure 21). Not only mesenchymal stem
cells but also hematopoietic stem cells, endothelial cells, and
also osteoblasts and osteoclasts show this size-selective
response. In fact, the effect of size dominates over tube
crystal structure (amorphous/anatase/rutile), fluoride content, and to a large extent over the wetting properties.[415–417, 419] Even tubes made from other valve metals,
such as ZrO2, showed similar size effects.[415] In general, the
most straightforward explanation for this effect is that
integrin clustering in the cell membrane leads to a focal
adhesion complex with a size of about 10 nm in diameter, and
this in turn leads to an excellent geometrical fit onto/into the
tube openings of about 15 nm.[122]
In view of a rapid ingrowth of biomedical implants in
bone, a key factor is fast kinetics of hydroxyapatite (HAp)
formation on implant surfaces from body fluid. A number of
studies[420–423] have shown that HAp formation can strongly be
accelerated on TiO2 nanotube surfaces compared with flat
TiO2 surfaces, and also in this case a strong size effect can be
observed.[420] Moreover, the 3D structure is optimal for
embedding precursors for HAp formation that additionally
promote HAp nucleation.[421] In vivo experiments with adult
domestic pigs showed that nanotube surfaces can indeed
enhance collagen type I and BMP-2[413] expression and that
higher implant bone contacts can be established if implants
are coated with a nanotube layer.[413] However, the negative
(apoptotic) effect of nanotubes may also be exploited for
biomedical surfaces when cell proliferation is not desired.[39]
6.5. Drug Delivery and the Release of Other Payloads
The geometry of the TiO2 nanotube arrays suggests that
the material may be used as a drug-delivery capsule if
nanotube layers are separated (singled-out) and stabilized, or
it may be used as a drug-eluding coating on biomedical
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Figure 21. a, b) Influence of TiO2 nanotube diameter on activity of
cells: a) Comparison of cell activity for mesenchymal stem cells (pink),
primary human osteoblasts (blue), osteoclast (green), and endothelial
cells (gray) for different TiO2 nanotube diameters; relative cell counts
are shown 3 days after seeding. b) Fluorescence micrograph for GFPlabeled mesenchymal stem cells on TiO2 nanotubular surfaces with
15 nm and 100 nm diameters, respectively (showing drastically higher
population on 15 nm tube diameters). c) TiO2 nanotube for guided
drug release: Representation of magnetically loaded TiO2 nanotubes
with attached drug (F). Release is triggered by photocatalytic chain
scission upon UV irradiation. Inset: an example where a blue
fluorescent molecule is released from magnetically actuated nanotubes
(reproduced with permission from Ref. [324]).
implant materials. A potential in vivo capsule is shown in
Figure 21 c. It takes advantage of the fact that long molecules
attached to a TiO2 surface can be released photocatalytically.
Shrestha et al.[324] showed that TiO2 nanotubes can be filled
with magnetic Fe3O4 particles and thus be magnetically
guided to desired locations. Such tubes can then be easily
coated with drugs that are attached by suitable linker
molecules. Drug release is not limited to UV reactions but
can also be triggered electrically (voltage induced catalysis)[138] or more importantly by X-rays,[344] which allows in vivo
treatments through living tissue. Such magnetic TiO2 nanotubes can be used directly for photocatalytic reactions with
cells or tissue, for example for the site-selective killing of
cancer cells.[324]
An even more elaborate payload filling and release
mechanism was introduced by Song et al.,[144, 177] who created
amphiphilic tube layers, which involves tubes that provide a
hydrophobic cap (monolayer) that does not allow water (body
fluid) to enter into the tubes unless opened by a photocatalytic interaction. Once the hydrophobic layer was
removed, body fluids could enter and wash out hydrophilic
drugs loaded within the tubes.
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TiO2 Nanotubes
Conflicting reports exist regarding drug-eluding coatings.
Some reports show elution times over weeks for loading with
paclitaxel, sirolimus, and BSA that are seemingly based on
sampling errors.[424] Other reports could not be confirmed; in
fact, when reproducing experiments of Peng et al.[424] with
identical tubes and drugs, elusion time constants of
minutes[425–427] rather than days or weeks were found. Most
recent work demonstrates that to achieve slow release,
capping of drug-loaded tubular or porous systems with
biopolymer, such as poly(lactic acid), is required. Modified
in this way, tubular or even better mesoporous anodic layers
on titanium-based implants or stents may represent efficient
and promising drug-release systems.[426] For applications on
stents, a considerable drawback is the somewhat limited
mechanical flexibility of the nanotube layers compared to
other mesoporous oxide layers.[80, 81, 426] A way to increase the
mechanical properties of tubular systems is their modification
to more stable titanium oxycarbide nanotube layers.[212, 213]
Payload release systems are not limited to in vivo
applications, but may prove extremely valuable for MEMS
or specifically lab-on-a-chip applications, where release of
reactants may be triggered by optical means (photocatalytic
chain scission) or electrical means (voltage-induced).
6.6. Other Applications and Aspects
In terms of gas sensing, TiO2 layers have shown to have a
high sensitivity to CO, H2, and NOx gases, and in particular as
nanoparticulated films.[428–430] For TiO2 nanotube layers, this
sensitivity has also been demonstrated.[283, 431] In terms of insolution sensing, it has also been shown that for gold
nanoparticles supported on TiO2 nanotube layers, a strongly
enhanced reaction rate with O2 in aqueous solution can be
found,[274] which is of great interest for oxygen sensors. Such
considerable support effects were also observed for methanol
oxidation reactions, not only for supporting Pt/Pd on TiO2
nanotubes,[275] but even more for semimetallic tubes that
showed an efficiency enhancement of 700 %.[212] These findings are very promising for applications in methanol fuel cells
(that is, as a substitute for carbon-based supports).
An approach that ideally takes advantage of the nanotubular geometry is as so-called nano test tubes.[384] For
example, color reactions can be carried out in the extremely
small tube volume of 4 1014 mL, but owing to the very high
aspect ratio, an extremely high sensitivity for detection is
established; that is, used as a photometric nanocuvette, a high
observation length and thus high specific light-absorption
path is provided. A significant advantage of using TiO2 is its
transparency for large range of light and moreover its selfcleaning properties when using static devices (MEMS or labon-a-chip). Fringes occurring in reflection spectra may also be
used for interference applications as a gas- or liquid-based
sensor, which can be optimized in performance by tailoring
the roughness of the tube sidewalls.[144] Owing to their
sensitivity to H2O2 concentration variations, TiO2 nanotubes
decorated with coadsorbed horseradish peroxidase (HRP)
and thionine chloride were also used as biosensors.[432]
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2904 – 2939
To date, the fact that considerable photochromic effects
have been reported for silver-loaded TiO2 nanotubes [325] or
that, in fact, oxide tube layers may be reduced to metallic
nanostructures has remained virtually unexploited.[172] In view
of tube growth, recent studies on metallurgical aspects[187] or
the growth of nanotubes in ionic liquids are very interesting.[111]
Novel ordered structures may be obtained by further
modifying the metallic substrate. Apart from using meshes or
metallic grids to improve the surface area,[433] entirely novel
concepts use for example roll-bonded substrates. Tsuchiya
et al.[187] showed strategies to achieve TiAl stripes that could
be selectively porosified or by which tubes could be formed.
The size limit of this approach to produce alternating tube
and pore layers lies in the range of 1–100 mm. It may also be
noteworthy that studies on ordered surface dimple formation[113–115] are of course directly related to nanotube formation, as outlined in Section 2.7.4. Concepts to create nanosize
oxide composition modulation in the tube walls that create for
example highly defined junctions and 3D superlattices are
also very spectacular.[246]
A point that clearly should be addressed but has not yet
been extensively studied is the mechanical stability of the
tube layers.[213] Although general adhesion is reported to be
good, the presence of the fluoride-rich layer affects the
adhesion of nanotube layers, for example when bending the
substrate.[80, 81] This adhesion can be improved by carbonization of the tubes,[213] but even better adhesion for anodic
layers can be obtained using titania mesosponges[80, 81] or
nanochannel layers.[83]
While progress on nanotubes on Ti, alloys, and other valve
metals is constantly advancing and new exciting findings are
continuously being reported, in many aspects, an even more
promising form of self-organized anodic titania has been
reported, namely a mesosponge structure[80, 81] that can be
grown to more than 100 mm in thickness with the main
advantages that it has a much higher specific surface area than
TiO2 nanotubes and a significantly stronger adherence to the
metallic substrate surface.
The authors would like to acknowledge the DFG for financial
support and Prof. Dr. S. Virtanen, S. P. Albu, W. Wei, C. Das, I.
Paramasivam, H. Jha, S. Bauer, H. Hilderbrand, R. Hahn, N.
Shrestha, H. Tsuchiya, and K. Yasuda for their contributions.
Received: March 8, 2010
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