SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A HYDRATED TITANIUM(IV) OXIDE

By adding an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide to a sulphuric solution of titanium(IV), the compound TiO2.nH2O was obtained, the value of n being approximately 1. The precipitation was accompanied by an exothermic reaction which indicated that the precipitate always formed at temperatures of congruent-to 90-degrees-C. The X-ray diffraction pattern of this compound shows a poorly crystallized anatase. There was no observed phenomenon in the DTA curve during the anatase-rutile transition, probably because the transition was immeasurably slow. When the heating rate was 300-degrees-C h-1, both phases coexist in the approximate temperature range 700-900-degrees-C.