Synthesis, assembly, and applications of titanium-dioxide nanostructures and related nanocomposites

Abstract

As a functional material with a wide range of applications, TiO2 has been extensively studied over the past century. But it is still believed that exploration of nanostructured TiO2 and its composites would contribute to new properties and applications of this material. This Ph.D. thesis thus focuses on a study of nanostructured TiO2 and related nanocomposites. The aim is to develop novel strategies for preparation of complex TiO2-based nanostructures with high process flexibility and application performance. In this regard, self-assembly has been adopted as a main approach, through which four different kinds of TiO2 containing nanocomposites have been prepared: i) Au/TiO2 core-shell nanoreactors, ii) monodisperse Au/TiO2 nanocatalysts, iii) TiO2/CNTs nanocomposites, and iv) hollow Sn-doped TiO2 nanospheres. In principle, other nanocomposite materials can also be developed through self-assembling routes, on the basis of the current findings.