Tailoring morphology in titania nanotube arrays by implantation: experiments and modelling on designed pore size—and beyond

Titania nanotube arrays are an exceptionally adaptable material for various applications ranging from energy conversion to biomedicine. Besides electronic properties, structural morphology on nanometre scale is essential. It is demonstrated that ion implantation constitutes a versatile method for the synthesis of tailored nanotube morphologies. Experimental-phenomenological observations reveal a successive closing behaviour of nanotubes upon ion implantation. Employing molecular dynamics calculations in combination with analytical continuum models, the physical origins of this scenario are unravelled by identifying ion bombardment induced viscous flow driven by capillarity as its underlying mechanism besides minor contributions from sputtering and redeposition. These findings enable the tailoring of nanotube arrays suitable for manifold applications.
This work presents a unified framework for understanding and predicting ion-induced effects in nanotube structures by a combination of experiments, modelling and analytical theory.

二氧化钛（Titania）纳米管阵列是一类适用性极为广泛的材料，可覆盖从能量转换到生物医药的诸多应用场景。除其电子特性外，纳米尺度的微观结构形貌同样是决定其性能的关键因素。研究证实，离子注入是一种可用于定制化制备特定形貌纳米管的通用手段。实验与现象学观测结果表明，纳米管在离子注入过程中会呈现出逐步闭合的行为特征。本研究结合分子动力学计算与解析连续介质模型，通过识别出毛细作用驱动的离子轰击诱导黏性流动为核心机制（溅射与再沉积仅贡献次要作用），阐明了该现象的物理本质。上述研究成果可用于定制适配各类应用需求的纳米管阵列。
本研究提出了一套统一的分析框架，通过结合实验、建模与解析理论，实现对纳米管结构中离子诱导效应的理解与预测。