Design of liquid-crystalline aqueous suspensions of rutile nanorods: evidence of anisotropic photocatalytic properties |
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Authors: | Dessombz Arnaud Chiche David Davidson Patrick Panine Pierre Chanéac Corinne Jolivet Jean-Pierre |
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Institution: | Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, UMR CNRS 8502, Batiment 510, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. |
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Abstract: | TiO2 rutile nanorods of average length L = 160 +/- 40 nm and average diameter D = 15 +/- 5 nm have been synthesized through a seed-mediated growth process by TiCl4 hydrolysis in concentrated acidic solution. These nanorods were dispersed in water to yield stable (aggregation-free) colloidal aqueous suspensions. At volume fractions phi > 3%, the suspensions spontaneously display a phase separation into an isotropic liquid phase and a liquid-crystalline phase identified as nematic by X-ray scattering. At phi > 12%, the suspensions form a nematic single phase, with large order parameter, S = 0.75 +/- 0.05. Very well aligned rutile films on glass substrate were produced by spin-coating, and their photocatalytic properties were examined by monitoring the decomposition of methylene blue under UV light. We found that UV-light polarized along the quadratic axis of the rutile nanorods was most efficient for this photocatalytic reaction. |
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