Slurry explosive detonation synthesis and characterization of 10Â nm TiO2

TiO2 was prepared by detonating a slurry explosive made of Ti precursor, ammonium nitrate, cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), and polystyrene (EPS). X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy revealed that the sample was composed of mixed crystals of rutile and anatase TiO2 with irregular spherical shapes and 10 nm particle size. The minimum energy gap of the sample was 2.9 eV. An ideal TiO2 explosive was prepared from a precursor/ammonium nitrate/RDX ratio of 1:1:0.6 and 2 g of EPS as a density modifier.