Expanding the Applications of the Ilmenite Mineral to the Preparation of Nanostructures: TiO2 Nanorods and their Photocatalytic Properties in the Degradation of Oxalic Acid

The mineral ilmenite is one of the most abundant ores in the Earth′s crust and it is the main source for the industrial production of bulk titanium oxide. At the same time, methods to convert ilmenite into nanostructures of TiO₂ (which are required for new advanced applications, such as solar cells, batteries, and photocatalysts) have not been explored to any significant extent. Herein, we describe a simple and effective method for the preparation of rutile TiO₂ nanorods from ball‐milled ilmenite. These nanorods have small dimensions (width: 5–20 nm, length: 50–100 nm, thickness: 2–5 nm) and possess large specific surface areas (up to 97 m² g^?1). Dissolution/hydrolysis/precipitation is proposed as a growth mechanism. The nanorods were found to have attractive photocatalytic properties in the degradation of oxalic acid. Their photocatalytic activity is close to that of the benchmark Degussa P25 material and better than that of a commercial high‐surface‐area rutile powder.     

Simultaneous phase- and size-controlled synthesis of TiO(2) nanorods via non-hydrolytic sol-gel reaction of syringe pump delivered precursors

The simultaneous phase- and size-controlled synthesis of TiO(2) nanorods was achieved via the non-hydrolytic sol-gel reaction of continuously delivered two titanium precursors using two separate syringe pumps. As the injection rate was decreased, the length of the TiO(2) nanorods was increased and their crystalline phase was simultaneously transformed from anatase to rutile. When the reaction was performed by injecting titanium precursors contained in two separate syringes into a hot oleylamine surfactant solution with an injection rate of 30 mL/h, anatase TiO(2) nanorods with dimensions of 6 nm (thickness) x 50 nm (length) were produced. When the injection rate was decreased to 2.5 mL/h, star-shaped rutile TiO(2) nanorods with dimensions of 25 nm x 200 nm and a small fraction of rod-shaped anatase TiO(2) nanorods with dimensions of 9 nm x 100 nm were synthesized. Pure star-shaped rutile TiO(2) nanorods with dimensions of 25 nm x 450 nm were synthesized when the injection rate was further decreased to 1.25 mL/h. The simultaneous phase transformation and length elongation of the TiO(2) nanorods were achieved. Under optimized reaction conditions, as much as 3.5 g of TiO(2) nanorods were produced. The TiO(2) nanorods were used to produce dye-sensitized solar cells, and the photoconversion efficiency of the mixture composed of star-shaped rutile TiO(2) nanorods and a small fraction of anatase nanorods were comparable to that of Degussa P-25.     

Large-scale preparation of ordered titania nanorods with enhanced photocatalytic activity

A titania layer with ordered nanostructures is expected to be of high photocatalytic activity due mainly to its high specific surface area. In the present work, large-area films with ordered titania nanorods were deposited on titanium substrates through a solution approach. The nanorods, with the phase composition of a mixture of anatase and rutile, grew on top of a condensed anatase interlayer along mainly the rutile [001]-axis. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by decomposing rhodamine B in water and compared with the general sol-gel derived titania films and a commercial DP-25 titania coating. It is found that the as-deposited titania nanorods exhibited extremely high initial photocatalytic activity but declined to a poor value after the consumption of beneficial oxidative peroxo complexes coordinated to Ti(IV). A subsequent thermal treatment eliminated such complexes but at the same time improved the crystallinity of the titania nanorods. The photocatalytic activity of the thermally treated titania nanorods was stable and significantly higher than that of the sol-gel derived film and commercial DP-25 coating.     

Photodegradation of dye pollutants on one-dimensional TiO2 nanoparticles under UV and visible irradiation

Titanium dioxides (TiO₂) nanoparticles with one-dimensional (1D) geometry, nanorods and nanostripes, were used as photocatalysts to photodegrade Rhodamine B (RhB) under ultraviolet (UV) and visible irradiation. The nanorods catalyst exhibited very interesting photocatalytic properties: under the UV irradiation its catalytic activity was slightly below that of the well-known TiO₂ catalyst P25, while under visible light it exhibited a better activity than P25.This fact indicates that the nanorods have a superior ability to utilize less energetic but more abundant visible light. Moreover, the 1D TiO₂ nanoparticles can be readily separated from aqueous suspensions by sedimentation after the reaction. With these advantages the 1D TiO₂ catalysts have a great potential for environmental applications. Various analytical techniques were employed to characterize TiO₂ catalysts and monitor the photocatalytic reaction. It was found that the catalytic performance of the catalysts is greatly dependent on their structures: The superior activity of P25 (consists of anatase and rutile nanocrystals) under UV light results probably from the interfacial interaction between anatase and rutile nanocrystals in this solid, which do not exist in the nanorods (only anatase). The titanate nanostripes (titanate) can absorb UV photons with shorter wavelength only.     

Coassembly of Nanorods and Nanospheres in Suspensions and in Stratified Films

The entropically driven coassembly of nanorods (cellulose nanocrystals, CNCs) and nanospheres (dye‐labeled spherical latex nanoparticles, NPs) was studied in aqueous suspensions and in solid films. In mixed CNC‐latex suspensions, phase separation into an isotropic latex‐NP‐rich and a chiral nematic CNC‐rich phase took place; the latter contained a significant amount of latex NPs. Drying the mixed suspension resulted in CNC‐latex films with planar disordered layers of latex NPs, which alternated with chiral nematic CNC‐rich regions. In addition, fluorescent latex NPs were embedded in the chiral nematic domains. The stratified morphology of the films, together with a random distribution of latex NPs in the anisotropic phase, led to the films having close‐to‐uniform fluorescence, birefringence, and circular dichroism properties.     

Precise Size Control over Ultrafine Rutile Titania Nanocrystallites in Hierarchical Nanotubular Silica/Titania Hybrids with Efficient Photocatalytic Activity

Hierarchical‐structured nanotubular silica/titania hybrids incorporated with particle‐size‐controllable ultrafine rutile titania nanocrystallites were realized by deposition of ultrathin titania sandwiched silica gel films onto each nanofiber of natural cellulose substances (e.g., common commercial filter paper) and subsequent flame burning in air. The rapid flame burning transforms the initially amorphous titania into rutile phase titania, and the silica gel films suppress the crystallite growth of rutile titania, thereby achieving nano‐precise size regulation of ultrafine rutile titania nanocrystallites densely embedded in the silica films of the nanotubes. The average diameters of these nanocrystallites are adjustable in a range of approximately 3.3–16.0 nm by a crystallite size increment rate of about 2.4 nm per titania deposition cycle. The silica films transfer the electrons activated by crystalline titania and generate catalytic reactive species at the outer surface. The size‐tuned ultrafine rutile titania nanocrystallites distributed in the unique hierarchical networks significantly improve the photocatalytic performance of the rutile phase titania, thereby enabling a highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of the methylene blue dye under ultraviolet light irradiation, which is even superior to the pure anatase‐titania‐based materials. The facile stepwise size control of the rutile titania crystallites described here opens an effective pathway for the design and preparation of fine‐nanostructured rutile phase titania materials to explore potential applications.     

Consolidation behavior in sedimentation of TiO(2) suspensions in the presence of electrolytes

The consolidation of TiO(2) suspensions (anatase and rutile) due to gravity sedimentation in the presence of electrolytes has been investigated as a function of pH. Sodium and barium nitrate were used as flocculating electrolytes. The particle interaction was related to the zeta potential and the thickness of the electrical double layer, kappa(-1), by utilizing the repulsive barrier in the classical DLVO theory. The stability of the suspensions was represented as the average final solids content of the sediment cake, phi(fin). The batch sedimentation process was followed by scanning the sample cell with X-rays, from which the solids content and the particle size were calculated. Generally, dense sediments, with phi(fin) up to volume fractions of 0.5, were found for stable suspensions. Flocculated suspensions produced sediments with low phi(fin). The phi(fin) was observed to increase linearly with increasing repulsive barrier. However, at pH values only slightly higher than the isoelectric point (pH(iep)) the phi(fin) remained low until it returned to linearity at a pH much higher than pH(iep). This was attributed to the stronger affinity of sodium than of nitrate for the particle surface, which may be explained by the higher negative hydration energy of sodium. The stronger affinity of sodium was also shown as unsymmetrical distribution of phi(fin) around pH(iep), with stronger flocculation at pH>pH(iep). The interpretation of phi(fin) as a function of the repulsive barrier (or kappa(-1)) also made it possible to distinguish between the adsorption mechanisms of ions from solution. Addition of electrolyte at a fixed low and high pH (surface positively and negatively charged, respectively) clearly showed the specificity in adsorption and consequent flocculation of the barium ion from the indifferent nitrate. Sodium was, however, again observed to flocculate the TiO(2) suspensions slightly more strongly than nitrate.     

Sol/gel and isotropic/nematic transitions in aqueous suspensions of natural nontronite clay. Influence of particle anisotropy. 1. Features of the i/n transition

The phase behavior of a natural nontronite clay was studied for size-selected particles by combining osmotic pressure measurements, visual observations under polarized light, and rheological experiments. In parallel, the positional and orientational correlations of the particles were analyzed by small-angle X-ray scattering. Aqueous suspensions of nontronite exhibit a true isotropic/nematic (I/N) transition that occurs before the sol/gel transition, for ionic strengths below 10(-3) M/L. In this region of the phase diagrams, the system appears to be purely repulsive. The I/N transition shifts toward lower volume fractions for increasing particle anisotropy, and its position in the phase diagram agrees well with the theoretical predictions for platelets. SAXS measurements reveal the presence of characteristic interparticular distances in the isotropic, nematic, and gel phases. The swelling law (separation distance vs swelling law) exhibits two regimes. For high volume fractions, the swelling law is one-dimensional as in layered systems and reveals the presence of isolated platelets. At lower volume fraction, distances scale as phi(-1/3), indicating isotropic volumic swelling. Finally, the experimental osmotic pressure curves can be satisfactorily reproduced by considering the interparticle distances between two charged planes whose effective charge is around 10% of the structural charge.     

TiO2纳米晶光催化降解铬酸根离子的研究

以二氧化钛为光催化剂,研究了溶液的ｐＨ值、铬酸根离子的初始浓度、通入的气体种类、氧化钛的载量等因素对铬酸根离子降解率的影响。同时合成了粒径小于１０ｎｍ的锐钛矿相和金红石相氧化钛纳米晶来考察晶相和尺寸效应对降解率的影响。结果表明,锐钛矿的催化活性高于金红石相,两者的催化活性均大大高于市售的氧化钛微粉。     

微乳法合成纳米SiO2/TiO2及其光催化性能

采用聚乙二醇辛基苯基醚(Triton X-100)/正己醇/环己烷/氨水微乳体系合成了纳米TiO2和SiO2/TiO2复合物,用X射线衍射、红外光谱和透射电镜对其结构进行了表征,并以甲基橙降解评价了其光催化性能,讨论了SiO2/TiO2摩尔比、晶相组成及粒径与光催化活性的关系.结果表明,SiO2/TiO2催化剂中形成了新的Ti-O-Si键和无定形SiO2;在纳米TiO2中复合SiO2能有效抑制锐钛矿向金红石的转变,增加锐钛矿的稳定性,并阻止TiO2晶粒的聚集生长.催化剂的光催化活性随金红石含量的增加而降低,加入适量SiO2能明显提高TiO2的光催化活性,其中摩尔比为1/7的SiO2/TiO2光催化活性最高.     

Hierarchical chlorine-doped rutile TiO2 spherical clusters of nanorods: Large-scale synthesis and high photocatalytic activity

In this study, we report the synthesis of hierarchical chlorine-doped rutile TiO₂ spherical clusters of nanorods photocatalyst on a large scale via a soft interface approach. This catalyst showed much higher photocatalytic activity than the famous commercial titania (Degussa P25) under visible light (λ>420 nm). The resulting sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), nitrogen adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, ¹H solid magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) and photoluminescence spectroscopy. On the basis of characterization results, we found that the doping of chlorine resulted in red shift of absorption and higher surface acidity as well as crystal defects in the photocatalyst, which were the reasons for high photocatalytic activity of chlorine-doped TiO₂ under visible light (λ>420 nm). These hierarchical chlorine-doped rutile TiO₂ spherical clusters of nanorods are very attractive in the fields of environmental pollutants removal and solar cell because of their easy separation and high activity.     

Effects of S and Ta codoping on photocatalytic activity of rutile TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

In this study, pure titanium dioxide (TiO₂), Ta-doped TiO₂, S-doped TiO₂, and Ta-S-codoped rutile TiO₂ photocatalysts were prepared by a sol-gel method. To evaluate the properties of the synthesized samples, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were applied. XRD detection results showed that the samples contained rutile phase basically. Scanning electron microscope observation showed that the morphology of Ta-S-TiO₂ was nearly spherical. Transmission electron microscope investigation indicated that Ta-S-TiO₂ had a flower-shaped structure consisting of many nanorods. The measurement of Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET)-specific surface areas (S_BET) showed that tantalum and sulfur codoping can effectively increase the S_BET of TiO₂. XPS results indicated that Ta was in the form of Ta⁵⁺ in the TiO₂ structure. Finally, the photocatalytic activities of synthesized photocatalyst samples were measured for the degradation of methylene blue in ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. The results demonstrated that the Ta-S-codoped rutile TiO₂ photocatalyst had better photocatalytic performance than pure rutile TiO₂, Ta-doped rutile TiO₂ and S-doped rutile TiO₂ photocatalyst.

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Effects of pure TiO₂, Ta-TiO₂, S-TiO₂, and Ta-S-TiO₂ on degradation of MB under visible light irradiation (a) and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation (b) were studied. Ta-S-TiO₂ exhibited a good photocatalytic performance under UV and visible light irradiation.

     

微波载银对纳米二氧化钛相变及光催化性能的增效作用

用微波法制备系列载Ag纳米TiO2,发现微波载Ag对纳米TiO2的相变和光催化活性具有增效作用。采用X-射线粉末衍射(XRD),透射电镜(TEM),X-射线光电子能谱仪(XPS),激光Raman光谱及漫反射光谱(DRS)方法对比研究纳米TiO2与载Ag纳米TiO2的性质。结果表明,所制得载Ag纳米TiO2是以锐钛矿为主相的混晶,平均粒径约为10 nm,负载Ag促进纳米TiO2中锐钛矿相转化金红石相相变,减小纳米晶尺寸,并使纳米TiO2光响应范围向可见光区移动 6 nm。在低浓度范围,微波法能均匀地将Ag负载于纳米TiO2表面,并以Ag0/Ag+的形式存在,抑制光生电子与光生空穴复合,大大地提高了纳米TiO2光催化活性。在近紫外-可见光照射下,载Ag量为0.05 mol %的纳米TiO2对罗丹明B的光催化降解效果最好。     

Ultraviolet photochemistry of trichlorovinylsilane and allyltrichlorosilane: vinyl radical (HCCH2) and allyl radical (H2CCHCH2) production in 193 nm photolysis

The absolute gas phase ultraviolet absorption spectra of trichlorovinylsilane and allyltrichlorosilane have been measured from 191 to 220 nm. Over this region the absorption spectra of both species are broad and relatively featureless, and their cross sections increase with decreasing wavelength. The electronic transitions of trichlorovinylsilane were calculated by ab initio quantum chemical methods and the observed absorption bands assigned to the A(1)A'<-- X[combining tilde](1)A' transition. The maximum absorption cross section in the region, at 191 nm, is sigma = (8.50 +/- 0.06) x 10(-18) cm(2) for trichlorovinylsilane and sigma = (2.10 +/- 0.02) x 10(-17) cm(2) for allyltrichlorosilane. The vinyl radical and the allyl radical are formed promptly from the 193 nm photolysis of their respective trichlorosilane precursors. By comparison of the transient visible absorption and the 1315 nm I atom absorption from 266 nm photolysis of vinyl iodide and allyl iodide, the absorption cross sections at 404 nm of vinyl radical ((2.9 +/- 0.4) x 10(-19) cm(2)) and allyl radical ((3.6 +/- 0.8) x 10(-19) cm(2)) were derived. These cross sections are in significant disagreement with literature values derived from kinetic modeling of allyl or vinyl radical self-reactions. Using these cross sections, the vinyl radical yield from trichlorovinylsilane was determined to be phi = (0.9 +/- 0.2) per 193 nm photon absorbed, and the allyl radical yield from allyltrichlorosilane phi = (0.7 +/- 0.2) per 193 nm photon absorbed.     

Chemical synthesis, structural characterization, optical properties, and photocatalytic activity of ultrathin ZnSe nanorods

Ultrathin ZnSe nanorods in the cubic phase have been synthesized by the reaction of selenium and zinc oleate for 30 min at 240 °C. These nanorods showed an average diameter of 2.4 nm, which is much smaller than the Bohr size of bulk ZnSe. Thus, they exhibited a remarkable quantum size effect in terms of their optical properties. The formation of the ultrathin nanorods could be attributed to the oriented attachment mechanism, which was supported by the structure of the nanorods and the control experiments. The ultrathin nanorods were transferred into an aqueous solution by ligand exchange. The performance of these nanorods as a catalyst was examined, using the photodegradation of methyl orange as a model reaction. It was found that the ultrathin nanorods possessed better photocatalytic activities than conventional ones.     

Magnetite nanorod thermotropic liquid crystal colloids: Synthesis, optics and theory

We have developed a facile method for preparing magnetic nanoparticles which couple strongly with a liquid crystal (LC) matrix, with the aim of preparing ferronematic liquid crystal colloids for use in magneto-optical devices. Magnetite nanoparticles were prepared by oxidising colloidal Fe(OH)(2) with air in aqueous media, and were then subject to alkaline hydrothermal treatment with 10moldm(-3) NaOH at 100°C, transforming them into a polydisperse set of domain magnetite nanorods with maximal length ～500nm and typical diameter ～20nm. The nanorods were coated with 4-n-octyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylic acid (OBPh) and suspended in nematic liquid crystal E7. As compared to the conventional oleic acid coating, this coating stabilizes LC-magnetic nanorod suspensions. The suspension acts as a ferronematic system, using the colloidal particles as intermediaries to amplify magnetic field-LC director interactions. The effective Frederiks magnetic threshold field of the magnetite nanorod-liquid crystal composite is reduced by 20% as compared to the undoped liquid crystal. In contrast with some previous work in this field, the magneto-optical effects are reproducible on time scales of months. Prospects for magnetically switched liquid crystal devices using these materials are good, but a method is required to synthesize single magnetic domain nanorods.     

Measurement of density distributions for colloidal beta-FeOOH rods in suspensions exhibiting phase separation: the role of long-range forces in smectic ordering

We prepared monodisperse colloidal beta-FeOOH rods with length-to-width ratios L/W of 3.6-7.0 (L=210-330 nm and W=40-58 nm). Density gradients of the rods occurred in the suspensions by gravity, inducing a phase separation. The denser phase showed smectic (Sm) liquid crystalline structures exhibiting iridescent colors in a wide range of pH from 1.2 (at which the rods interact attractively) to 4.7 (repulsively). The lower density phase was disordered, but frequently emitted diffuse colors locally (at pH>2.6), implying the occurrence of short-range order. The nematic phase was not observed in the beta-FeOOH systems, being consistent with theoretical predictions. The particle density distributions were measured over the whole region of the suspensions (separated into two phases) at various pH values using a rapid freezing method. A phase diagram was determined thereby, where the critical (minimal) packing fraction of the particles for the Sm phase showed a nonlinear decrease from 0.43 to 0.12 with increasing pH. Rod-rod spacings in the Sm phase estimated experimentally at various pH were well explained using Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) type pair potentials. It is suggested that Sm ordering can be induced by attractive minima at pH<2.2, while driven by soft repulsions at pH>2.6. The former Sm ordering is expected to be the condensation-type phase transition and the latter the disorder-order transition.     

Photocatalytic production of hydrogen from water–alcohol media with the participation of mesoporous TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Samples of mesoporous TiO₂ containing 80-85% of anatase and 15-20% of rutile with average particle and pore sizes of ∼10 nm and specific surface areas of 70 m²/g were obtained. The nanohetero structures TiO₂/Cu formed during photocatalytic reduction of Cu^II exhibit photocatalytic activity in the release of hydrogen from water–ethanol mixtures. The quantum yield with respect to atomic hydrogen amounts to 1.5.     

Titania nanotubes (TNTs) prepared through the complex compound of gallic acid with titanium; examining photocatalytic degradation of the obtained TNTs

It was for the first time that the complex compound of gallic acid with titanium (IV) salt was used as a precursor to synthesize titania nanotubes. The study was separated into four main sections; (I) synthesizing the complex of titanium with gallic acid, (II) synthesizing anatase and rutile phases through thermal decomposing of the complex, (III) investigating the possibility to synthesize titania nanotubes from the rutile and anatase phases, and (IV) photocatalytic ability of all the nanoparticles.Different methods were applied to analysis, including X-ray diffraction, 1H NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, quantum-chemical modeling, Raman spectroscopy, thermal analysis, photoluminescence, BET analysis (to investigate the specific surface activity, total pore volume), EDX, electron microscopy (SEM), acceleration voltages, electrical conductivity, BJH method (to determine average pore diameter), and UV-Vis spectroscopy.We illustrated the possibility of the synthesis of the titania nanotubes from the anatase phase, while rutile phase was not turned to a tube shape.The photocatalytic ability of the obtained nanoparticles was tested by degrading bromophenol blue, as an organic pollutant, under weak light. TiO₂ in the form of nanotubes could reduce the concentration of bromophenol blue to 82%, as well as the rutile phase - to 70%, and finally anatase as nan-spheres to 36%.     

Novel three-dimensional dandelion-like TiO2 structure with high photocatalytic activity

Pure rutile phase crystalline TiO₂ powder with novel 3D dandelion-like structure was synthesized by using a facile hydrothermal method with TiCl₃ as the main starting material. In such a 3D structure, the nanometer-scale construction elements aggregate together and form a micrometer-scale artificial unit. The typical 3D dandelion structure has an average diameter of 1.5-2 μm and is packed radially by nanorods with [001] preference growth direction. Each individual nanorod is hundreds of nanometers in length, and tens of nanometers in diameter. The obtained 3D dandelion-like TiO₂ powder has a high photocatalytic activity, which is equivalent to that of the commercial available P25 titania powder. Mechanisms of the formation of the dandelion-like structure were also discussed. A different oxidation process of Ti(III) to Ti(IV) during hydrothermal was suggested.