Premium
Free‐Standing Arrays of Isolated TiO 2 Nanotubes through Supercritical Fluid Drying
Author(s) -
Deneault James R.,
Xiao Xiaoyin,
Kang TaeSik,
Wang Joanna S.,
Wai Chien M.,
Brown Gail J.,
Durstock Michael F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201100633
Subject(s) - supercritical fluid , carbon nanotube , materials science , agglomerate , nanotechnology , nanotube , evaporation , fabrication , economies of agglomeration , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , medicine , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , engineering , thermodynamics
A common complication in fabricating arrays of TiO 2 nanotubes is that they agglomerate into tightly packed bundles during the inevitable solvent evaporation step. This problem is particularly acute for template‐fabricated TiO 2 nanotubes, as the geometric tunability of this technique enables relatively large inter‐pore spacings or, from another perspective, more space for lateral displacement. Our work showed that agglomeration results from the surface tension forces that are present as the ambient solvent is evaporated from the nanotube film. Herein, we report a processing and fabrication approach that utilizes supercritical fluid drying (CO 2 ) to prepare arrays of template‐fabricated TiO 2 nanotubes that are free‐standing and spatially isolated. This approach could be beneficial to many emerging technologies, such as solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells and vertically‐oriented carbon nanotube electrodes.