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.