Growth and characterization of the coexistence of vertically aligned and twinned V-shaped RuO2 nanorods on nanostructural TiO2 template

We report the growth and characterization of coexistence of vertically aligned and twinned V-shaped RuO2 nanorods (NRs) The well-aligned RuO2 NRs were grown on top of rutile (R) phase TiO2 NRs sitting on sapphire (SA) (100) substrate via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) by using bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl) ruthenium (II) and titanium-tetraisopropoxide (TTIP, Ti[OCH(CH3)(2)](4)) as source reagents The surface morphology, structural, and spectroscopic properties of the as-deposited nanocrystals (NCs) were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected-area electron diffractometry (SAED). The FESEM images and XRD patterns indicated growth of vertically aligned RuO2(001) and V-shaped RuO2(101) NRs on top of R-TiO2 NRs. The Raman spectrum indicated the formation of high quality RuO2 NCs on rutile phase of TiO2 NRs. TEM and SAED characterizations of V-shaped RuO2 NRs showed that the nanorods were crystalline RuO2 with a twin plane of (101) and twin direction of [(1) over bar 01] at the V-junction The probable mechanisms for the formation of well-aligned RuO2 NRs are discussed (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.