Formation of titania nanofibers: a direct sol-gel route in supercritical CO2.
In this letter, we present a new method to synthesize titania nanofibers with nanocrystallites via a sol-gel route in supercritical CO2. The nanofibers were formed by the esterification and condensation of titanium alkoxides using acetic acid as the polymerization agent in supercritical CO2 from 40 to 70 degrees C and 2500 to 8000 psia. The TiO2 nanofiber morphology was characterized by means of SEM and HRTEM, which indicated that the diameters ranged from 9 to 100 nm. N2 physisorption, and powder XRD showed that the nanofibers exhibited relatively high surface areas up to 400 m2/g and anatase and/or rutile nanocrystallites were formed after calcination.
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B9.
Ruohong
R
Sui
Amin S
AS
Rizkalla
Paul A
PA
Charpentier