A Microscopy Study of the Effect of Annealing Temperature on the Morphological and Structural Properties of Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes Fabricated on Functional Substrates
Raymond Taziwa*, Edson Meyer , Simcelile Zinya
It is well known that the morphology and crystalline phase composition of TiO2 in titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) is of considerable importance because it governs the efficiency of many photon assisted chemical and physical reactions in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The efficiency of DSSC employing TNTs is dependent on the stability of the photochemistry reactions which can be optimized by controlled development of either Anatase or Rutile phases of TiO2. Moreover, the microstructure such nano tube pore diameter, tube length and the stability of nanotubes also play a significant role in dye absorption, efficient percolation of the redox electrolyte and vectorial transport of photon generated electrons. In this work TiO2 nanotubes have been fabricated on FTO glass substrates by electrochemical anodization of Ti metal film on FTO glass substrates (functional substrates) deposited by RF sputtering. The fabricated TNT on functional substrates (FS) were thermally treated at different temperatures. The fabricated, thermally treated TNTs-FS were subjected morphological evaluation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and morphological-structural evaluation using high resolution transmission microscopy (HRTEM. Our Results have shown that TNTs prepared on FTO glass substrates demonstrated remarkable morphological and structural stability as compared TNTs on metal substrates annealed at the same temperatures