TiO2-based nano-wells for fabricating nanocrystals.

This paper reports a convenient bottom-up method to fabricate robust and inert TiO2-based nanowells for growing nanocrystals. These TiO2-based nanowells are fabricated in three steps: fabricating a thin film of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes by the convenient electrochemical anodization method (Step 1), striping the fabricated nanotube thin film to expose the ordered array of nanowells underneath (Step 2), and surface modifying the exposed nanowells to adjust their surface hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity (Step 3). These fabricated nanowells can then be used to template the growth of an ordered array of nanocrystals by trapping a tiny droplet of precursor solution inside each nanowell.