Rutile Titania Branched Nanorods: Room Temperature Synthesis and Characterizations

摘要

Branched rod like nanostructures of titania were synthesized through formation of Ti(OH)_3 intermediate using ammonium hydroxide as a mediator. The formation of nanocrystalline titania was confirmed from the X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction studies. Optical transmission spectroscopic studies supported the ammonium hydroxide mediation in the formation of titania nanorods. Morphological properties were investigated and titania rods were found to have average values of diameter and length respectively of 30 and 100 nm. The nanorods have a large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area 189 m~2/g. Analysis of the UV-Vis spectra reveals that the band-gap energy is blue shifted by 0.6 eV from that of bulk rutile-TiO_2.