Abstract
$TiO_2$ nanowires were grown by thermal oxidation of TiO powder in an oxygen and nitrogen gas environment at $1000^{\circ}C$. The ratio of $O_2$ to $N_2$ in an ambient gas was changed to investigate the effect of the gas ratio on the growth of $TiO_2$nanowires. The oxidation process was carried out at different $O_2$/$N_2$ ratios of 0/100, 25/75, 50/50 and 100/0. No nanowires were formed at $O_2$/$N_2$ ratios of less than 25/75. When the $O_2$/$N_2$ ratio was 50/50, nanowires started to form. As the gas ratio increased to 100/0, the diameter and length of the nanowires increased. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the nanowires were $TiO_2$ with a rutile crystallographic structure. In the XRD pattern, no peaks from the anatase and brookite structures of $TiO_2$were observed. The diameter of the nanowires decreased along the growth direction, and no catalytic particles were detected at the tips of the nanowires which suggests that the nanowires were grown with a vapor-solid growth mechanism.
