Stress enhanced TiO 2 nanowire growth on Ti–6Al–4V particles by thermal oxidation

Abstract Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) 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. TiO 2 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 TiO 2 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.