Synthesis of spongy titanium oxide

Spongy titanium oxide was prepared via using polyacrylic acid gels as template. Effect of Ti3+ concentration on product morphology was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the obtained product clearly show that TiO2 possesses a three-dimensional network structure and these networks are found to form through the aggregation of TiO2 nanorods and nanodots. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was used to examine the crystal structure of the products. The obtained product is pure anatase TiO2. The composition of the products was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A possible mechanism to explain the growth of the networks materials was investigated.