Comparison of various anodization and annealing conditions of titanium dioxide nanotubular film on MB degradation

¹ Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, 14588-89694 Tehran, Iran
² Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology (INST), 11365-9161 Tehran, Iran
³ Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 11365-9466 Tehran, Iran

Corresponding author: Iraji@sharif.edu

Received: 25 December 2008
Accepted: 6 March 2009
Published online: 22 April 2009

Abstract

In this study the influence of morphology of vertically oriented titanium oxide nanotube arrays (TNTAs) on their photocatalytic activities was investigated. To obtain nanotubes with different morphologies, they were prepared at different anodization voltages. The size of TNTAs were measured using SEM images and also determined based on a non-destructive optical method; We demonstrate how the tubular geometry of the TNTAs can be used to adjust the optical and also the wetting properties of them and how these properties affect the performance of the nanostructure in further applications as a photocatalyst. To investigate their potentials for environmental applications, the photocatalytic activity of TNTAs in methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution was evaluated and compared to the behavior of porous TiO₂ layers; we have found that the nanotubular TiO₂ electrodes have considerably better photocatalytic performance in comparison with porous samples and the photocatalytic activity of TNTA was strongly dependent on the crystallographic structure and morphology.