Study on the growth of potassium titanate nanostructures prepared by sol-gel–calcination process

Potassium titanate (K2O·nTiO2, n = 4 or 6) nanostructures were prepared by a sol-gel method. The growth of potassium tetratitanate (K2Ti4O9) and potassium hexatitanate (K2Ti6O13) nanorods was obtainable in a range of Ti(OC2H5)4/CH3OK molar ratio from 1 to 2 and heating temperature from 800 °C to 950 °C with different morphologies and size distributions of the products. The role of pre-crystallized K2O phase on the growth behavior of K2O·nTiO2 (n = 4 or 6) nanostructures was demonstrated by structural and morphological observation.