Formation of photocatalytic novel oxide crystallites with Al:Ti = 1:1 in Al2O3-TiO2 gels by mechanochemical treatment.
Al2O3-TiO2 bulk gels prepared from aluminum tri-sec-butoxide and titanium tetra-n-butoxide were mechanochemically treated using a planetary, high-energy ball mill. The initial state of the gels was amorphous and a novel crystalline material with a composition of approximately the same atomic ratio of Ti and Al was formed in the gel matrix at around room temperature during the milling. The size of the crystallites was several tens nanometers and their structure probably has a polytypic character with a high density of stacking disorder. The specimen containing the new crystallites showed a high photocatalytic property. Mechanochemical treatment of the sol-gel-derived multicomponent gels is a promising way to prepare novel composite materials that are not obtained by conventional heat treatments of the gels.
Department of Materials Science, Toyohashi University of Technology, Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580, Japan.
Atsunori
A
Matsuda
Tomoya
T
Kikuchi
Ryoichi
R
Murayama
Toshihiro
T
Kogure
Kiyofumi
K
Katagiri
Hiroyuki
H
Muto
Mototsugu
M
Sakai