Study of TiO2 nano-tubes using electrochemical anodization method for applications in dye-sensitized solar cells

TiO2 nano-tubes are getting strong attraction in many fields due to their unique properties. They are important in biomedical application, Dye sensitized solar cells, sensor and photocatalys is applications, etc. Our prime interest is to grow these tubes for dye-sensitized solar cells with high conversion efficiency and low production cost. In this research, we have synthesized TiO2 naonotubes by anodizing 25 mu m thick titanium foil at 40V using two-step anodization method. The electrolyte used is the ethylene glycol with varying concentration of NH4F and fixed concentration of deionized water. Effect of different concentrations of the electrolyte on tube crystal structure has been studied. It is observed that crystallinity increases with increased concentration of fluoride ions. It is found that two-stepanodization method results in more crystalline and open structures. Scanning electron microscopy is utilized to study the surface morphology and tubes growth, whereas observation of the crystal structure of nano-tubes is made by X-ray diffraction.