Influence of calcination temperatures on the formation of anatase TiO2 nano rods with a polyol-mediated solvothermal method

A simple and convenient method has been demonstrated for large-scale synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO2). Nano-rod TiO2 with anatase structure had been prepared by a polyol-mediated solvothermal process of titanium tetra-isopropoxide (TTIP) and ethylene glycol (EG) followed by powder calcination at high temperature. The growth mechanism of the TiO2 nano-rods was discussed and supported by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Anatase TiO2 nano-rods (NRs) were synthesized by adjusting the preparation parameters such as precursor concentration, autoclaving temperature and time duration, and calcination temperature. SEM showed TiO2 NRs of 100 to 250 nm that were produced due to the reaction of 0.7 mL of TTIP with 25 mL EG, autoclaving temperature of 205 degrees C for a time duration of 12 h, and calcination in air at 600 degrees C for 1 h. Calcination temperature had a great effect on the production of TiO2 nano-rods, where well-defined hexagonal NRs were produced at a high calcination temperature of 600 degrees C for 1 h.