Characterization and mechanical properties of TiO2 nanotubes formed on titanium by anodic oxidation

Abstract

Abstract The well-ordered titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube array surfaces were formed at different voltages such as 20\xa0V, 40\xa0V, 60\xa0V, 80\xa0V and 100\xa0V for 1\xa0h on cp-Ti by anodic oxidation (AO) technique. And then, to improve crystallinity of the surface, heat treatment was applied at 450\xa0°C for 1\xa0h to all surfaces without any morphological changing. The surface and cross sectional morphology, elemental structure, phase composition, functional groups, roughness and thickness, wettability and mechanical results were investigated by SEM, EDX, XRD, FT-IR, AFM, contact angle measurement device and nanoindentation tester, respectively. Mainly, anatase- and rutile-TiO2 phases were obtained at post-heat treatment whereas only, Ti phase was detected on AO surfaces at pre-heat treatment. All nanotube structures and the elements of Ti and O were uniformly distributed through the whole surface. The roughness and thickness of tube structures usually increased with increasing voltage values and measured. The roughness and thickness values were measured as 10.67–111.97\xa0nm and 0.21–1.92\xa0μm, respectively. TiO2 nanotube surfaces exhibited hydrophobic behaviors with respect to plain Ti surface. Furthermore, mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus of the coating produced at minimum voltage were great compared to ones at higher voltage and plain Ti surface under a Berkovich indenter due to phase structure, homogeneity and density of nanotube structures.