Electrochemical fabrication of titania nanotube arrays with tunning nature of dimethyl sulfoxide and its application for hydrogen sensing

In the present work, tuning effects of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) on the length, wall thickness, dimension and morphology of titania nanotube arrays fabricated by anodization was investigated. DMSO presented in both ethylene glycol and glycerol electrolytes provided excellent tunability in length, wall thickness and diameter of the produced TiO2 nanotube arrays by systematically varying the DMSO concentration. At the DMSO concentration of 12 wt% in ethylene glycol, the nanotube length could be up to 13.0 microm at 20 V for 8 h anodization. The TiO2 nanotube arrays produced in DMSO containing ethylene glycol or glycerol electrolytes displayed a high sensitivity to hydrogen at room temperature compared to the absence of DMSO. The further enhancement of resistance response could be achieved by coating a Pt and Pd layer on the surface of TiO2 nanotube-arrays. The presented work provided a simple way to control formation of TiO2 nanotube arrays through the tuning effects of DMSO in ethylene glycol or glycerol electrolytes.