Effect of Annealing Atmosphere Induced Crystallite Size Changes on the Electrochemical Properties of TiO2 Nanotubes Arrays

Abstract

TNAs (Titanium dioxide nanotube arrays) were synthesized by electrochemical anodization and these TNAs were annealed in different gas atmosphere such as argon, air, hydrogen and nitrogen. This annealing in different atmosphere brought variation in crystallite size (27 ~ 33 nm), which influences on electrochemical properties. The specific capacity of Ar, Air, N 2 and H 2-annealed TNAs was around ~165, 185, 177 and 190 mAh g-1 , respectively. The crystallite size of anatase TNAs seemed to be responsible for the change in lithium storage capacity, indicating that structural changes of TNAs were playing major role in electrochemical properties.