Facile synthesis of single-crystalline rutile TiO2 nano-rods by solution method

A convenient and scalable technique for the synthesis of rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-rods was presented by using bulk TiO2 powder, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and distilled water as raw materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) studies indicate that the prepared sample is crystalline and free from any impurities, however, it has no distinct shape and possesses a huge degree of agglomeration, and the average crystal size is around 40 nm. After annealing the sample at 600 °C for 2 h, it is observed through FESEM that nano-rods are formed. And XRD analysis shows that the nano-rods are single crystalline with distinct and smooth surfaces in different sizes with average length of about 1 µm and diameter of about 80 nm. Further UV-visible spectroscopy and Raman studies were conducted for the prepared sample and the band gap of the final product is found to be 3.40 eV.