Oxide Growth Efficiencies and Self-Organization of TiO2 Nanotubes

Self-organization of anodic oxide to TiO2 nanotubes has attracted in the past few years wide interest. Recent theoretical modeling predicted that self-organization occurs when the efficiency of oxide growth lies in the certain range specific to the anodized material. The present paper analyzes the experimental range of efficiencies during growth of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes and it compares the obtained results with the most advanced theoretical model on self-organization over a wide range of experimental conditions. The paper addresses in detail a number of critical experimental issues, which should be considered when oxide growth efficiencies of nanotubes are extracted. Finally we confront our data with theoretical predictions of stability regimes for the self-organization. (C) 2012 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.015208jes] All rights reserved.