Fabrication and Characterization of Rutile TiO2 Nanocrystals by Water Soluble Precursor

Abstract

In this research, TiO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple wet chemical method. TiCl₄ was used as precursor in hydrogen peroxideand ethanol. The TiO₂ nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The particle size of the as-synthesized TiO₂ was estimated by XRD and TEM analyses in the range of 5-10 nm. The SEM images showed that the size of sphere-like shaped nanoparticles decrease with increasing annealing temperature. The prepared TiO₂ nanoparticles were characterized for phase composition, using X-ray diffractometry. The crystal structure of the nanoparticles after annealing was measured by XRD analysis. It was realized that phase transition from anatase to rutile occurs after heat treatment at 600 °C. The particle size of the annealed sample was also calculated about 20 nm by XRD analysis. The EDS spectrum showed peaks of titanium and oxygen with fewer impurities. The UV-Vis spectrum showed anatase and rutile phase at wavelength about 375 nm (E_g= 3.30 eV) and 470 nm (E_g= 2.63 eV) for as-prepared TiO₂ and annealed TiO₂ nanoparticles respectively.