Large surface area biphase titania for chemical sensing

In this work we report about the synthesis and gas sensing properties of large surface area and stable biphase titania nanotubes. The nanosized tubular structures have been obtained by means of electrochemical anodization of thin Nb-Ti metallic films. Crystallization was accomplished by thermal annealing, to obtain biphase titania. The morphological analysis shows that the obtained structures are well-ordered and highly aligned titania nanotubes. Investigations of the structures' gas sensing properties show that they have high and reversible response towards H-2, CO, acetone and ethanol over a wide range of the operating temperatures. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.