ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the major developments in the fabrication of titania nanotube (NT) and knowledge about its properties in relation with applications in the fields of energy, environment and biology/medicine. The new millennium has seen the advent of many new nano-materials but only very few stimulated scientific curiosity and technological interest in a broad range of fields. Titanium dioxide nanotube is prominent among such materials. While a number of methods have been developed during the past couple of decades for growing NTs of different organic and inorganic materials, only a few template-based and two template-free methods have so far been successful in yielding titania NTs. Hydrothermal method of material preparation involves carrying out a heterogeneous reaction in an aqueous medium at an elevated temperature, typically above the boiling point of the solution, and pressure in an autoclave. The NT morphology evolution also came under considerable scrutiny. The layered growth is unique to hydrothermal titania NTs.
