Simple hydrothermal preparation of nanofibers from a natural ilmenite mineral

Titanate nanofibers were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method using a natural ilmenite mineral as the starting material. The chemical composition, crystalline structure, shape, size, and specific surface area of the prepared samples were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET). The crystalline structure of the as-synthesized nanofibers demonstrated a layered titanate form, H2TixO2x+1. The length of the prepared nanofibers ranged from 2 to 7 μm with diameters ranging from 20 to 90 nm. The as-synthesized nanofibers were solids with BET surface areas of approximately 50 m2/g. This synthetic method provides a simple route for the fabrication of one-dimensional (1-D) nanostructured materials from a low-cost natural mineral.