Fabrication of nanostructured titania on flexible substrate by electrochemical anodization

Titanium films were deposited on ITO (indium tin oxide)-coated PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) and flexible clay substrates by ion beam sputter deposition method. The surface morphology of the deposited films was smooth on PEN and rough on clay substrates. The titanium film deposited on Clay-mo (98% montmorillonite) substrate was anodized in ethylene glycol + 2 vol% H₂O + 0.3 wt% NH₄F solution, and the titanium films deposited on Clay-st (99% stevensite) substrate was anodized in 2-propanol + 16 vol% H₂O + 0.14 M NH₄F solution. Then nanohole-structured titania (TiO₂) films were firstly and successfully fabricated on the flexible transparent clay substrates. The nanohole structures of TiO₂ on both clay substrates were similar to those on PEN and glass substrates. The TiO₂ nanohole structure was almost maintained after annealing at 450 °C for 4 h in air. The optical transmittance of the nanohole-structured TiO₂ films on Clay-st increased from 26% to 54% at 800 nm in wavelength after annealing at 450 °C for 1 h in air.