title: Confined-space synthesis of single crystal TiO₂ nanowires in atmospheric vessel at low temperature: a generalized approach.
abstract: Extensive efforts have been devoted to develop innovative synthesis strategies for nanomaterials in order to exploit the true potential of nanotechnology. However, most approaches require high temperature or high pressure to favor crystallization. Here we highlight an unconventional approach for the confined-space synthesis of the single crystal TiO₂ nanowires in the atmospheric vessel at low temperature by cleverly manipulating the unique physical properties of straight-chain saturated fatty acids. Our method also applys to icosane due to its straight-chain saturated hydrocarbon structure and similar physical properties to the saturated fatty acids. Interestingly, we also found that the unsaturated fatty acids can facilitate the crystal growth, but their bent chains lead to the formation of TiO₂ particle aggregates. In addition, we demonstrate the growth of TiO₂ nanowires on arbitrary substrates, which are of great importance for their wider applications. We thus anticipate our presented method to be a possible starting point for non-classical crystallization strategies and be easily adapted for the fabrication of all other inorganic materials.
authors: 1] School of Physics and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China [2] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Xiaoyue
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Nonferrous Metal and Materials, Ministry of Education, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
authors: Hai
authors: H
authors: Wang
authors: School of Physics and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Zhou
authors: School of Physics and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: School of Physics and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors: Baojun
authors: B
authors: Li
authors: School of Physics and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors: Xiang
authors: X
authors: Zhou
authors: School of Physics and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Shen
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