Fabrication and Elastic Properties of TiO2 Nanohelix Arrays through a Pressure-Induced Hydrothermal Method

TiO2 nanohelices (NHs) have attracted extensive attention owing to their high aspect ratio, excellent flexibility, elasticity, and optical properties, which endow promising performances in a vast range of vital fields, such as optics, electronics, and micro/nanodevices. However, preparing rigid TiO2 nanowires (TiO2 NWs) into spatially anisotropic helical structures remains a challenge. Here, a pressure-induced hydrothermal strategy was designed to assemble individual TiO2 NWs into a DNA-like helical structure, in which a Teflon block was placed in an autoclave liner to regulate system pressure and simulate a cell-rich environment. The synthesized TiO2 NHs of 50 nm in diameter and 5-7 mm in length approximately were intertwined into nanohelix bundles (TiO2 NHBs) with a diameter of 20 mu m and then assembled into vertical TiO2 nanohelix arrays (NHAs). Theoretical calculations further confirmed that straight TiO2 NWs prefer to convert into helical conformations with minimal entropy (S) and free energy (F) for continuous growth in a confined space. The excellent elastic properties exhibit great potential for applications in flexible devices or buffer materials.