Array of single crystalline anatase TiO2 nanotubes with significant enhancement of photoresponse

Abstract

Anatase TiO2 nanotubes array (ATONA) has attracted tremendous attention owing to its promising applications in solar cells, water splitting and organic pollutants photocatalytic degradation. However, the activity of ATONAs was greatly suppressed by the grain boundaries existed in the tube walls, which acted as carrier scattering and recombination centers. Herein, we report a novel strategy to prepare array of single crystalline anatase TiO2 nanotubes (SC-ATONAs) with significant enhancement of the photocatalytic activity and UV photo response performance compared to the polycrystalline counterparts. The growth of SC-ATONAs was achieved by establishing a crystallization temperature gradient along the tube wall, which ensured the crystallization started from the nucleation of a single nucleus at the bottom of amorphous TiO2 nanotubes prepared by Ti anodization. These findings pave the way to prepare single-crystalline nanotubes with superior performance for other materials.