Synthesis of Nano-Microsphere Titania with CTAB Assisted by Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

Using titanium trichloride (TiCl3) as the precursor, sodium chloride (NaCl) as the mineralizer, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant, titanium oxides (TiO2) nanomicrospheres were synthesized by hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize the crystal structure and morphology of the microspheres. The results indicate that the spheres were rutile with diameters of about 1μm ~5μm. The spheres were composed of radially aligned nanorods with diameters of about 40nm and lengths of 500nm. The influences of the concentration of surfactant and the concentration of mineralizer were also researched. The microsphere diameter and grain size both reduce with the increase of the concentration of CTAB. The microspheres get larger and more complete with the higher mineralizer concentration.