Controlling the synthetic pathways of TiO 2-derived nanostructured materials

Abstract

A comprehensive study of the hydrothermal synthesis of TiO 2-derived nanostructured materials, including layered protonic trititanate (H 2Ti 3O 7), metal-ion exchangeable titanate (Na xH 2-xTi 3O 7), TiO 2(B) and anatase nanotubes and TiO 2-anatase nanowires, was conducted. Nanoscaled tubular structures were found to be already present in the samples derived from prolonged hydrothermal process of bulk anatase TiO 2 and could be converted to various types of nanotubes, nanowires or nanorodes by post-synthesis treatments. 0.1 M HCl acid wash and air annealing were the two key parameters to select the types of nanotubes/nanowires as the final products. XRD, Raman, TG, and XPS core level and valence band studies were carried out to elucidate our proposed synthetic pathways. Copyright © 2007 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.