20110409
FNA
TEHRAN (FNA)- A group of Iranian researchers from Isfahan University of Technology in cooperation with their colleagues at Italy's University of Palermo synthesized titanium oxide nanotubes.

Titanium oxide nanotubes are semi-conductors with a parallel and regular structure. They also have a high optical and chemical stability, and they are widely used in the photo-electrochemical decomposition of water, production of solar cells which have become sensitive by paint, and hydrogen sensors.

"We carried out a number of research works in order to study the structure and electrochemical and photo-electrochemical properties of titanium oxide nanotubes, so that we can use such materials in various applications," Dr Seyed Shahab Miraqayee, one of the researchers of the plan, told INIC.

"First, we produced titanium oxide nanotubes in organic and aqueous solutions containing fluorine ion through the anodization of pure titanium plate in a constant electrical potential," Miraqayee mentioned, explaining about the procedure in which the nanotubes were synthesized.

"Then, we carried out another anodization process in order to stabilize the interface between metal and oxide and also to study the reasons for and the effects of the formation of a blocking layer during the anodization."

According to Miraqayee, the main result of the research is that the synthesized nanotubes do not stick to the surface of the sub-layer titanium metal through an electrochemical and photo-electrochemical method.

"Titanium oxide nanotubes have many applications in the production of renewable energies and in the reduction of pollution," he concluded.