Study of titanate nanotubes by X-ray and electron diffraction and electron microscopy

• Titanate nanotubes were prepared by hydrothermal method.
• X-ray powder diffraction indicated their structure based on that of H2Ti2O5·H2O.
• Structural model was created with the aid of high-resolution electron microscopy.
• The model was verified with electron diffraction data.
• X-ray powder diffraction pattern was calculated with the aid of the Debye formula.

The structure of titanate nanotubes (Ti-NTs) was studied by a combination of powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), electron diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Ti-NTs are prepared by hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 powder. The structure is identified by powder X-ray diffraction as the one based on the structure of H2Ti2O5·H2O phase. The same structure is obtained by projected potential from HRTEM through-focus image series. The structure is verified by simulated PXRD pattern with the aid of the Debye formula. The validity of the model is tested by computing Fourier transformation of a single nanotube which is proportional to measured electron diffraction intensities. A good agreement of this calculation with measured precession electron diffraction data is achieved.