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Study of Oxygen Vacancies in TiO2 Nanostructures and Their Relationship with Photocatalytic Activity

In this research work, we present the synthesis and characterization of four different TiO2 structures, such as nanotubes, nanocavities, nanosheets assembled on nanocavities and nanobowls assembled on nanocavities, prepared by electrochemical anodization using organic electrolytes. After synthesis, the structures were thermally annealed to pass from the amorphous phase to the anatase phase, which is one of the most important crystalline structures of TiO2 due to its high photocatalytic activity and stability. The unique morphology and topography were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The elemental composition was determined by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The anatase phase was verified by Raman microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), the band gap energy was calculated by the Kubelka–Munk function, and the main defect states that generate the emission, as well as their lifetime, were determined by photoluminescence spectroscopy and time response photoluminescence (TRPL), respectively. The TiO2 nanomaterials were tested as catalysts in the photodegradation of a solution of methylene blue using a UV lamp at room temperature. The results showed complex morphologies and different surface roughness areas of these nanomaterials. Furthermore, a relationship between defect states, band gap energy, and photocatalytic activity was established. We found that the catalytic activity was improved as an effect of geometric parameters and oxygen vacancies.

Evolution of anodised titanium for implant applications

Anodised titanium has a long history as a coating structure for implants due to its bioactive and ossified surface, which promotes rapid bone integration. In response to the growing literature on anodised titanium, this article is the first to revisit the evolution of anodised titanium as an implant coating. The review reports the process and mechanisms for the engineering of distinctive anodised titanium structures, the significant factors influencing the mechanisms of its formation, bioactivity, as well as recent pre- and post-surface treatments proposed to improve the performance of anodised titanium. The review then broadens the discussion to include future functional trends of anodised titanium, ranging from the provision of higher surface energy interactions in the design of biocomposite coatings (template stencil interface for mechanical interlock) to techniques for measuring the bone-to-implant contact (BIC), each with their own challenges. Overall, this paper provides up-to-date information on the impacts of the structure and function of anodised titanium as an implant coating in vitro and in/ex vivo tests, as well as the four key future challenges that are important for its clinical translations, namely (i) techniques to enhance the mechanical stability and (ii) testing techniques to measure the mechanical stability of anodised titanium, (iii) real-time/in-situ detection methods for surface reactions, and (iv) cost-effectiveness for anodised titanium and its safety as a bone implant coating.

Suitability of Different Titanium Dioxide Nanotube Morphologies for Photocatalytic Water Treatment

Photocatalysis has long been touted as one of the most promising technologies for environmental remediation. The ability of photocatalysts to degrade a host of different pollutants, especially recalcitrant molecules, is certainly appealing. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has been used extensively for this purpose. Anodic oxidation allows for the synthesis of a highly ordered nanotubular structure with a high degree of tunability. In this study, a series of TiO₂ arrays were synthesised using different electrolytes and different potentials. Mixed anatase-rutile photocatalysts with excellent wettability were achieved with all the experimental iterations. Under UVA light, all the materials showed significant photoactivity towards different organic pollutants. The nanotubes synthesised in the ethylene glycol-based electrolyte exhibited the best performance, with near complete degradation of all the pollutants. The antibacterial activity of this same material was similarly high, with extremely low bacterial survival rates. Increasing the voltage resulted in wider and longer nanotubes, characteristics which increase the level of photocatalytic activity. The ease of synthesis coupled with the excellent activity makes this a viable material that can be used in flat-plate reactors and that is suitable for photocatalytic water treatment.

Enhanced optical properties and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotubes by using magnetic activated carbon: evaluating photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI)

In recent years, photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) by TiO₂ nanostructures, as a potent environmental technology has attracted a lot of attention. However, several defects including the large band gap energy of TiO₂, fast photogenerated charge recombination and re-oxidation of Cr(III) restrict their practical application. In this work, the incorporation of TiO₂ nanotubes (TNTs) with magnetic activated carbon (MAC) and photoreduction in the presence of a hole scavenger were studied as a preferable approach. The results revealed that coupling TNTs with 2 wt% MAC can boost the surface area from 89.54 to 307.87 m² g^-1 as well as decrease the band gap energy from 3.1 to 2.7 eV. As a consequence of the enhancement in textural features and optical properties, TNTs/MAC (2%) led to improvement of photoreduction efficiency (from 47% to 66%) in comparison with the TNTs. Meanwhile, the experiments demonstrated that using 0.2 g TNTs/MAC as an optimal dosage in acidic solution increases the photoreduction efficiency up to 81%. The hole scavenger investigation had a marvellous result. It was found that in the presence of oxalic acid, TNTs/MAC (2%) could reduce 97% of Cr(VI) which it was due to trapping oxidative species and charge-transfer-complex-mediated process. Furthermore, the kinetic study affirmed that the photoreduction follow first-order kinetics and the reaction rate constants by TNTs/MAC (2%) are 1.5 times as great as those of TNTs. Moreover, the reusability tests illustrated TNTs/MAC (2%) has good stability and is active even up to the six runs.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of antibacterial activity of polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG)-loaded TiO2 nanotubes

Artificial joint replacement is an effective surgical method for treating end-stage degenerative joint diseases, but peripheral bacterial infection of prosthesis can compromise the effect of the surgery. Herein, antibacterial effects of titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) coated with polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) were examined via in vitro and in vivo experiments. TNTs with a pore diameter 46.4 ± 5.9 nm and length of 300-500 nm for the slice and 650-800 nm for the rod were fabricated by anodization. Then, 3.46 ± 0.40 mg and 1.27 ± 0.28 mg of PHMG were coated onto the TNT slice and rod, respectively. In vitro studies of the release of PHMG showed that the antibacterial agent was released in two stages: initial burst release and relatively slow release. In vitro and in vivo antibacterial studies showed that the PHMG-loaded TNTs (PHMG-TNTs) had excellent antibacterial abilities to prevent bacterial infections. Clinical pathological analysis of rabbit femurs indicated that the implanted PHMG-TNTs had no apparent pathological changes. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis of the femur tissues around the implants showed that the expression of osteogenic-related genes, including runt-related transcription factor 2, osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase, bone sialoprotein, bone morphogenetic protein 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor A, was significantly upregulated in the PHMG-TNT implanted group as compared to the other groups. Overall, these findings provide a promising approach for the fabrication of antibacterial and bone biocompatible titanium-based implants in orthopedics.

Bioactive surface-modified Ti with titania nanotube arrays to design endoprosthesis for maxillofacial surgery: structural formation, morphology, physical properties and osseointegration

Modification of the surface of titanium into titania (TiO₂) nanotube (TNT) arrays was performed by electrochemical anodization to design an endoprosthesis for maxillofacial surgery. TNT arrays with different surface structures were successfully coated on titanium substrates by varying the anodizing voltages and annealed at 450 °C for 4 h. The phase composition and morphology of the nanotubes were examined by x-ray powder diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The biological functions and water wettability of various surface structures were also investigated. The results demonstrated that the annealed nanotubes were composed of an anatase phase only at all applied voltages. The tube diameters and lengths increased as the voltage increased. The surfaces with modification had more wettability, cell adhesion, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium deposition than the surfaces without modification. Finally, the results demonstrated that a modified surface of titanium to produce TNT arrays as a biomaterial is promising to design an osseointegrated surface of endoprosthesis for maxillofacial surgery.

Enhanced photocatalytic bacterial inactivation of atomic-layer deposited anatase-TiO2 thin films on rutile-TiO2 nanotubes

In this work, experimental conditions were established to fabricate self-ordered rutile-TiO₂ nanotube arrays, coated with a conformal anatase-TiO₂ thin layer using atomic layer deposition. E. coli inactivation tests showed a considerable increase in photocatalytic activity using rutile-TiO₂ nanotubes coated with anatase-TiO₂ compared to that using single rutile or anatase TiO₂ nanotubes only. Photocatalytic hydroxyl radical generation rates (determined by pNDA bleaching) were also meaningfully enhanced for the combined anatase/rutile TiO₂ nanostructures. Therefore, we show that it is possible to take advantage of the morphological properties of the materials and the synergic effect from the combination of both TiO₂ polymorphs during the design of novel materials, which could be used as antibacterial agents to improve the quality of drinking water.

Morphology and Electronic Properties of TiO2 Nanotubes Arrays Synthesized by Electrochemical Method

Background:

A nano-tubular structure of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) was obtained using an electrochemical process based on the anodization of titanium foil in an organic electrolyte prepared with ethylene glycol (HOCH2CH2OH) containing Ammonium fluorides (NH4F) and ultrapure water under different anodization voltage. The morphological characteristics showed the formation of TiO2 nanotubes with different geometrical parameters. The electronic properties of the TiO2 NTs films were measured by the Mott-Schottky (MS) plots, indicating a positive slope for all graphs implying the n-type semiconductor nature of the TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2 NTs). The donor density (Nd) and the flat band potential (Efb) increases slightly with increase the anodization voltage.

Methods:

Prior the anodization, the titanium (Ti) foils were cut into square shape (2.25 cm2) with a selected work area of 0.6 cm2. The samples were subjected to a final polishing using a rotating felt pad (01 &µm) impregnated with alumina until a metallic mirror surface was obtained. The Ti foils were degreased by sonication in acetone, methanol and 2-Propanol for 10 minutes respectively, rinsed with ultrapure water and dried in a stream of compressed air. To form a TiO2 NTs, electrochemical anodization process was carried out at room temperature in Ethylene Glycol (EG) solution containing 0.3 wt% Ammonium fluorides (NH4F) and 2wt % ultrapure water for three (03) hours at different anodization voltage (20, 40 and 60V). A two-electrode cell was used for all the anodization measurements, with a platinum plate as the counter electrode, separated from the working electrode (titanium foil) by 1.5 cm. Immediately after anodization, the samples were soaked in ultrapure water to remove residual electrolyte for 10 minutes and then dried in an oven at 50 °C for 10 minutes.

Results:

TiO2 NTs grown from anodization of Ti foil in fluoride EG solution for 3h by varying the anodization voltage. The micrographic analysis shows a strong influence of the anodizing voltage on the morphology and geometrical parameters of the TiO2 NTs. Non homogenous NTs morphology was observed at 20 V with the presence of corrugations along the walls of the tubes. A perfect and regular nanotublar structure with smooth’s walls tubes was obtained at an anodization voltage of 60V. Moreover, the increase of anodization voltage leads to an increase in both the diameter and the length of tubes. In fact, the inner diameter and the length of the tubes (Di and L) values increase with increasing potential, being around (39 nm and 2 &µm) respectively at 20 V and (106 nm and 16,1 &µm) at 60 V. The measured electronic properties of TiO2 NTs indicating the n type semiconducting nature. It is remarkable that the donor density Nd increases toward higher values by increasing the anodizing voltage until 40V. However, for an anodization at 60V, the Nd has a small decrease value (7, 03 * 1019 cm-3) indicating a diminution of defects present in the material. Also, by increasing the anodizing voltage, Efb takes increasingly more positive values. In fact, the Efb values are – 0.12, 0.05 and 0.15 V for films prepared at 20, 40 and 60 V respectively. Therefore, this behavior can be attributed to a displacement of the Fermi level toward the conduction band edge which leads to a larger band bending at the interface.

Conclusion:

By varying the anodization voltage, titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) were grown using electrochemical anodization of titanium foil in fluoride ethylene glycol solution for 3 hours. The morphology of the TiO2 NTs obtained was considerably affected; the anodizing potential determines the migration of ions in electrolyte during anodization process and simultaneously the tube diameter. An average small a nanotube diameter around 39 nm was obtained for 20V corresponding to 106 nm average diameter for TiO2 NTs structure synthesized at 60V. Furthermore, the semiconductor properties of the TiO2 NTs films have also been modified with increased values while increasing the anodization voltage. This behavior was attributed that the TiO2 NTs structure is more disordered, having much more defects provide abundant local donor energy levels which increases conductivity and decrease the probability of recombination of electrons and holes in these films, that can be integrated as active layer in the solar cells, in particular the Gratzel cells.