ZnO Nanorod Template Research Articles

Fabrication and characterization ofTiO2 nanotube arrays having nanopores in their walls by double-template-assistedsol–gel

We present herein a simple method named the double-template-assisted sol–gel method for preparingTiO2 nanotube arrays with nanopores on their walls. Poly(ethylene glycol) dissolved inTiO2 sol was used as a soft template to form nanopores on the walls ofTiO2 nanotube arrays, which were templated from ZnO nanorod hardtemplates by a dip-coating technique. The microstructure of nanoporousTiO2 nanotube arrays can change from end-opened to end-closed by increasing thedip-coating cycle number. In addition, the essential parameters of nanoporousTiO2 nanotube arrays are determined by the growth conditions of ZnO nanorod templates. Thispaper gives a simple and universal way to produce nanopores on the walls ofTiO2 nanotube arrays to increase the specific surface area.