Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of TiO2 nanorod arrays on glass substrates

Large-scale, well-aligned single crystalline TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays were prepared on the pre-treated glass substrate by a hydrothermal approach. The as-prepared TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction results show that the main phase of TiO{sub 2} is rutile. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results demonstrate that the large-scale TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays grown on the pre-treated glass substrate are well-aligned single crystal and grow along [0 0 1] direction. The average diameter and length of the nanorods are approximately 21 and 400 nm, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays was investigated by measuring the photodegradation rate of methyl blue aqueous solution under UV irradiation (254 nm). And the results indicate that TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays exhibit relatively higher photocatalytic activity.