Electrophoretic growth of Lead Titanate nanotubes

In the current research, we have utilized sol-gel electrophoresis technique to grow Lead Titanate (PbTiO3) nanotubes in porous anodic alumina template channels. The templates were prepared through two-step anodizing of pure aluminum foils in phosphoric acid. The porous templates were filled with a highly stabilized PbTiO3 sol prepared using titanium tetra-butoxide and lead acetate trihydrate, as the Ti and Pb precursors. A DC electric field was applied to drive the sol into the template channels. Tube formation was realized after etching of the template pores with 5wt. % caustic soda solution. Sol-gel electrophoresis method has already been used for preparing PbTiO3 thin films and nanowires, and by using it, high quality and more condenses layers than other usual sol-gel methods have been produced. But, to the best of our knowledge, this method has not been used for growth of PbTiO3 nanotubes. The heat treatment condition was evaluated based on the simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) results of the prepared and crystallization of the tetragonal perovskite structure by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the grown nanotubes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations showed that close-packed PbTiO3 nanotubes have been grown in the template channels.