A Continuous Process for Structurally Well-Defined Al2O3 Nanotubes Based on Pulse Anodization of Aluminum

A continuous process for the preparation of structurally well-defined uniform alumina (Al2O3) nanotubes was developed. The present nanofabrication approach is based on pulse anodization of aluminum by using sulfuric acid and provides unique opportunity for a facile tailoring of the length of nanotubes by controlling the pulse duration. Nanotubes have many desirable characteristics based on their shape, potential quantum-size effects and a large effective surface area and thus have attracted considerable research interest.1,2 Particular attention has been paid to the preparation of metal oxide nanotubes because of their potential applica-tions in advanced electronics and for high performance catalysts. To date, various synthetic methods have been developed for oxide nanotubes of aluminum, iron, vanadium, titanium, silicon, zirconium, etc.1–3 Among them, alumina nanotubes have a special importance for nanoelectronics and catalysis because of the material’s excellent physicochemica