April 11, 2011 – FARS News Agency — A group of Iranian researchers from Isfahan University of Technology, in cooperation with colleagues at Italy’s University of Palermo, synthesized titanium oxide nanotubes.
Titanium oxide nanotubes are semiconductors 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 dye sensitized solar cells, and hydrogen sensors.
"We carried out a number of research works 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. 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.
Copyright 2011 Fars News Agency.
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