A facile route to synthesize titanium oxide nanowires via water-assisted chemical vapor deposition

Single crystalline rutile titanium oxide nanowires have been synthesized in bulk yield based on commercial metal titanium by a facile water-assisted chemical vapor deposition method. The morphology, crystallinity, and phase structure of the nanowires have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). This growth strategy is applicable for commercial metal titanium substrate with different spatial dimensions, such as powder, network mesh, and flat foil. The as-synthesized nanowires are found to be mainly composed of single crystalline rutile TiO₂ nanowires in spiral shape with a small amount of hexagonal Ti₂O nanowires with zigzag form. A growth mechanism has been proposed to explain the novel spiral and zigzag types of titanium oxide nanowires under moderate temperature (850 °C). This method promises an alternative way for industrialization of titanium oxide nanowires which may serve as a good candidate for various industrial applications such as optoelectronic, electronic, and electrochemical nanodevices.