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Nanostructure Characterisation by Electron Beam Techniques
Surface characterization of ZnO and Ag loaded metal oxide nanotubes using
spectroscopic techniques
Agata Roguska 1,* and Marcin Pisarek 1
1 Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224 Warsaw, Poland
*aroguska@ichf.edu.pl
Synthesis and formation of nanoscale oxide layers on metallic surfaces has recently drawn much
attention in many fields of materials research. To date, a large part of the interest has remained on titanium
oxide (TiO 2 ) nanotubes using electrochemical anodization process. A similar self-assembled mechanism as
for TiO 2 nanotubes leads to the formation of zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ) nanotubes, which may also be a
promising substrate for various applications, especially in biomedicine.
In this work we have fabricated nanoporous oxide layers on Ti and Zr with the addition of Ag or
ZnO nanoparticles in order to obtain medical coatings ensuring both biocompatibility and antibacterial
properties. The fabrication strategies of TiO 2 and ZrO 2 nanotubes allowed for precise control the nanotube
length and diameter, thus enabled to load different amounts of nanoparticles and control the antibacterial
activity. In order to reveal the morphological and chemical features, the composite coating fabricated were
studied with the aid of high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and surface analytical techniques: AES, XPS.
Our results have shown that Ag nanoparticles can be incorporated in a simple and economic manner,
suitable for the fabrication of new types of bactericidal materials The nanoparticles are distributed
homogeneously in the coating, which is promising to for maintaining a steady antibacterial effect. The Ag
appears in the composite layers mostly as metal silver. The amount of the nanoparticles is variable and
depends on the deposition process conditions.
Acknowledgements
The research was partially supported by the European Union within European Regional Development Fund,
through grant Innovative Economy (POIG.01.01.02-00-008/08).
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