Fabrication of anatase titanium dioxide microspheres via homogeneous precipitation method

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) microspheres have been successfully prepared using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) as the starting material, ethanol (or methanol) as the solvent and urea as the homogeneous precipitant. Powder X-ray diffraction and SEM are used to characterise various properties of the obtained anatase microcrystals. Under the experimental conditions (temperature 110 degrees C; time 12 h), the TiO2 products are almost all in this spherical morphology. The microsphere surfaces are smooth, which exhibit a sphere-like morphology with a diameter ranging from 2 to 5 mu m. It is found that the morphologies of anatase microcrystals strongly depend on the hydrothermal conditions, in which urea plays an important role during the whole process. This work has provided a simple and effective method to synthesise anatase in aqueous solution, which may also be applicable to the preparation of other compounds.