Synthesis of nanocrystalline TiO2 in alcohols

A solvothermal synthetic method to nanocrystalline titania has been carefully investigated in alcohol solutions. The selection of crystal structures, grain sizes and morphologies could be achieved through simply varying the alcohols and other reaction conditions. It is believed that HCl plays a significant role in determining the possible formation mechanism and the crystal structures. Although GC–MS and FT-IR results can give some information about the synthetic process, the formation of titania in these systems still remains unclear and both the hydrolytic and non-hydrolytic mechanisms might be involved. The products were also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman as well as UV–VIS spectroscopy.