Stress enhanced TiO2 nanowire growth on Ti–6Al–4V particles by thermal oxidation

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanowires were grown on Ti - 6wt% Al - 4wt% V (Ti64) particles by thermal oxidation. To investigate the effect of stress on nanowire growth, the particles were milled in a planetary ball mill prior to the thermal oxidation. Thermal oxidation of the Ti64 particles was carried out in a horizontal tube furnace in a controlled oxygen atmosphere in the temperature range of 700–900 °C. The oxygen concentration was varied from 20 ppm to 80 ppm in Ar atmosphere. Nanostructures were characterized by high resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. TiO2 nanowires grew on the surface of Ti64 particles and exhibited a square/rectangular cross sectional shape with thicknesses of 20–40 nm and lengths of 2–3 μm. Residual stress was found to play a significant role in nanowire growth. This was confirmed by growing TiO2 nanowires on Ti64 alloy sheet with an induced stress gradient along its length. An improvement in nanowire coverage was observed in regions of high residual stress. A stress-induced growth mechanism is suggested to explain the confinement of nanowire growth to one dimension during thermal oxidation.