Self-organizing Anodization of Valve Metals: Form Highly Ordered Oxide Nanotube to Nano-Pore Arrays

摘要

In the past few the electrochemical growth of self-organized oxide nanotubular, or nanoporous structures on refractory metals other than Al, such as Ti, Zr, Nb, W, Ta or Hf has attracted considerable interest. Among all these structures, self-organized TiO_2 nanotube layers as depicted in Fig. 1 are particularly interesting, as TiO_2 is a highly functional material with a wide range of applications that are based on its semiconductive nature. For these applications, a nanostructured layer with a high surface area and possibly a uniform size distribution is beneficial for a most efficient performance.