Spontaneous growth of ultra-thin titanium oxides shell on Ag nanowires: an electron energy loss spectroscope observation
Abstract
Ag nanowires with a spontaneous ultra-thin TiO2 shell (∼0.5 nm) can be grown on TiO2 substrate. STEM/EELS results demonstrate that this oxygen-deficient TiO2 layer is formed through the oxidation of Ti which is released from the substrate and segregated to the nanowire surface simultaneously with crystal growth of the nanowires.