Unravelling camphor mediated synthesis of TiO2 nanorods over shape memory alloy for efficient energy harvesting

[Display omitted] •Inexpensive CVD method to fabricate R-TiO2 Nanorods over NiTi using camphor as source.•An insight to growth mechanism of high-purity TiO2 Nanorods.•Role of camphor and factors affecting the CVD growth process is demonstrated using COMSOL simulation.•Dependency of TiO2 NR morphology over camphor concentration and temperature.•Fabrication of photoanode for efficient energy harvesting application. We demonstrated a cost-effective and scalablechemical vapor deposition(CVD) process for the production of high quality and dense rutile titanium dioxide nanorods (R-TiO2 NR) based on camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) decomposition overshape memory alloy (nitinol). The topography of the camphor-based R-TiO2 NR was studied underfield emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) which revealed high coverage of R-TiO2 NR over the substrate. The phase purity of R-TiO2 NR was established by X-ray diffraction measurements performed at different camphor concentrations and substrate temperatures. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopyconfirmed the chemical and the elemental composition of the nanorods grown over nitinol, which suggest the formation of high-quality R-TiO2 NR. Further, R-TiO2 NR was used as photoanode in 1 M KOH solution for efficient energy harvesting application by indicating a high photocurrent density of 550 µA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode), indicating excellent light trapping mechanism with efficient charge separation and extraction. The proposed CVD process is a suitable method for large scale production of R-TiO2 NR over nitinol, which can be potentially employed in sensors and various other biomedical applications.