Synthesis Of Rutile TiO2 Nanorods Research Articles

Hydrothermal synthesis of rutile TiO2 nanorods and their decoration with CeO2 nanoparticles as low-photocatalytic active ingredients in UV filtering applications

The use of TiO2 nanoparticles in sunscreen products has raised concern over their oxidative potential and adverse health effects brought about by their propensity to produce free radicals when exposed to UV radiation. In this study, an investigation into industry-scalable methods for synthesizing rutile TiO2 nanorods with controllable morphological characteristics was carried out. The effects of hydrothermal reaction temperature and nitric acid concentration on the crystal phase, composition and morphology were explored to assess the most suitable conditions for reproduction. Optimal reaction conditions for obtaining purely rutile TiO2 nanorods occurred when treating the titania precursor at 150 °C for 24 h with 16 M nitric acid. Here, these rutile nanorods are decorated with CeO2 nanoparticles, as a means of producing a material with high UV attenuation and low photocatalytic activity. The nanocomposite materials are prepared using facile hydrothermal and precipitation methods and showed selective UV absorption whilst also demonstrating a reduction in photocatalytic activity compared to bare rutile TiO2 nanorods of up to 88% and 77% when exposed to UV and solar simulated light. The results suggest CeO2/TiO2 could be safely applied as an ‘active’ inorganic UV absorber in sunscreen products.

Effect of seed layer on growth of rutile TiO2 nanorods

For achieving the high quality of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanorods, herein, we present a synthesis of rutile TiO2 nanorods on a transparent conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substratewith seed layer by a two-step method. TiO2 thin films were first precoated by spin coating and annealing, followed by the growth of TiO2 nanorods with a hydrothermal method. The crystallographic nanostructures and properties of the nanorods were investigated. XRD results demonstrate that seed layer was tetragonal anatase TiO2 structure while nanorods had tetragonal rutile TiO2 structure. Since the hydrothermal technique was conducted in medium acid, structure of nanorods was induced to form in rutile phase. The major characteristic orientation of nanorods on the seed layers was (002) and minor in (101) planes. FE-SEM results show that seed layer enhances the process to achieve vertical-aligned orientation of the TiO2 nanorods, which contribute to develop electron transport rate and could pay an important role inelectron transport layer in high-performance Perovskite solar cell.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of {110}-Faceted TiO2 Rutile Nanorods in the Photodegradation of Hazardous Pharmaceuticals

Rutile TiO2 with highly active facets has attracted much attention owing to its enhanced activity during the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants such as pharmaceuticals in wastewater. However, it is difficult to obtain by controlling the synthetic conditions. This paper reports a simple hydrothermal synthesis of rutile TiO2 nanorods with highly exposed {110} facets. The obtained rutile was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The main contribution to the photocatalytic activity comes from rutile nanorods with highly dominant active {110} facets, which were studied in the photodegradation of reactive cinnamic acid and more recalcitrant ibuprofen. The contribution of active species was also investigated. The present work further confirmed the hydrothermal synthesis route for controlling the preparation of highly crystalline and active rutile nanocrystals.

Direct synthesis of rutile TiO2 nanorods with improved electrochemical lithium ion storage properties

Rutile TiO2 nanorods were directly synthesized from natural mineral ilmenite via a simple two-step process, including ball milling and wet chemistry treatments. The morphological and structural characterizations reveal that the nanorods with length of 50–100nm, width of 5–20nm and thickness of 2–5nm possess a large specific surface area (97m2/g). The obtained rutile TiO2 nanorods show excellent electrochemical properties, such as large reversible charge–discharge capacity, good cycling stability and high rate performance, when used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. Moreover, their electrochemical performance is better than that of two commercial samples including commercial annatase and rutile TiO2.

A Simple Route for the Synthesis of Rutile TiO2 Nanorods

Abstract The monodispersed rutile TiO2 nanorods in diameter 4–6 nm and in length up to 50–150 nm were prepared by the hydrolysis of TiCl4 solution in the concerntrated HNO3 under ambient condition in air and required no complex apparatus.