Formation of anatase and TiO from Ti thin film after anodic treatment and thermal annealing

The phase transformation of anodized Ti film has been studied. Although X-ray diffraction detected only the amorphous TiO₂ phase, transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that TiO nanocrystallites less than 10 nm in size were also present, which was further supported by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Anatase was found to appear gradually by annealing the as-anodized specimen in air at 500-550C, which was accompanied by a simultaneous disappearance of TiO nanocrystallites. In contrast, only rutile is formed by annealing the Ti film at the same temperatures. The results indicate that TiO can induce the formation of anatase, which is explained by the close similarity between their structures.