Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of TiO2 nanorod arrays on glass substrates

Large-scale, well-aligned single crystalline TiO2 nanorod arrays were prepared on the pre-treated glass substrate by a hydrothermal approach. The as-prepared TiO2 nanorod arrays were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction results show that the main phase of TiO2 is rutile. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results demonstrate that the large-scale TiO2 nanorod arrays grown on the pre-treated glass substrate are well-aligned single crystal and grow along [0 0 1] direction. The average diameter and length of the nanorods are approximately 21 and 400 nm, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanorod arrays was investigated by measuring the photodegradation rate of methyl blue aqueous solution under UV irradiation (254 nm). And the results indicate that TiO2 nanorod arrays exhibit relatively higher photocatalytic activity.