Synthesis and characterization of TiOx nanoparticles prepared by pulsed-laser ablation of Ti target in water

Nanoparticles (NPs) creation by pulsed-laser ablation of targets in a liquid environment has recently become a promising technique, which has several relative advantages, such as simplicity and low cost. This technique was employed in the present work for preparation of TiO_x NPs suspension by ablation of metal Ti targets into twice-distilled water. A second harmonic generation (SHG) pulsed Nd:YAG laser was used in the experiments. Preferential formation of spherical NPs and their TiO_x nature was established. Aggregation of the created particles during aging was found. Transition of the NPs’ structure from amorphous to crystalline with increasing the laser energy was revealed. A difference was observed in the transmittance of the suspensions obtained depending on the laser intensity.