Issue 27, 2012

TiO2 cellular-protected nanowire array fabricated super-rapidly by the precipitation of colloids in the nanopores

Abstract

Recently, the highly isolated TiO2 nanowire array has attracted much interest because of its advantages in a wide range of applications of this material, including dye sensitized solar cells and photocatalysis. The present work describes a high isolation of TiO2 nanowires in the cellular protected nanowire (CPNW) array obtained by KOH–HCl alternative treatment of the as-anodized TiO2 nanotube array at room temperature. The nanowires in the cells are highly separated from each other due to the successful suppression of the domino bundling effect by the cells. The mechanism of the CPNW formation is argued to be the dissolution–precipitation of TiO2 nanoclusters. It is demonstrated that the nanopore-confined TiO2 colloid, due to the different influence of drag force associated with the confined Brownian motion, will essentially precipitate in the center of the nanopore to form an isolated TiO2 nanowire. Benefiting from the additional surface area and high isolation of TiO2 nanowires in the CPNW array, the TiO2 CPNW array has a better performance than the TiO2 nanotube array in the application of DSSCs.

Graphical abstract: TiO2 cellular-protected nanowire array fabricated super-rapidly by the precipitation of colloids in the nanopores

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Feb 2012
Accepted
27 Apr 2012
First published
30 Apr 2012

J. Mater. Chem., 2012,22, 13820-13825

TiO2 cellular-protected nanowire array fabricated super-rapidly by the precipitation of colloids in the nanopores

W. Li, J. Li, C. Shi, E. Liu, C. He, X. Du, N. Zhao, M. Springborg and Y. Dong, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 13820 DOI: 10.1039/C2JM31255G

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