Morphology control of anatase TiO2 by surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method

By hydrolysing titanium isopropoxide in a long hydrocarbon chain surfactant-containing solution, TiO2 fine particles with a diversity of well-defined morphologies was synthesized in this study by a hydrothermal route. The structural change during the formation process was monitored by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. TiO2 with various morphologies such as particle, sheet, rod, tube and flower-like shape was obtained by carefully controlling the preparation conditions. The experimental results show that the pH value is crucial for shape control of the produced TiO2 because it can change the charge state of the surfactant in the solution and the adsorption potential of the surfactant on the TiO2 surface. The shape evolvement of anatase TiO2 was elucidated by quenching the reaction at different stage and the formation mechanism of different shaped TiO2 was suggested.