Sol–gel synthesis and hydrothermal processing of anatase nanocrystals from titanium n-butoxide

The alkoxide sol–gel synthesis of nanostructured TiO2 has been studied systematically to examine the processing parameters that control crystallite size and phase. A hydrothermal method has been proposed to prepare uniform and unaggregated nanocrystals of pure anatase in nitric acidic medium. Hydrolysis and polycondensation of titanium n-butoxide (Ti(OC4H9)4) have been performed in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG). The use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the effect of its concentrations on the formation of anatase phase have been described in detail using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that nanocrystalline anatase particle (< 10 nm) was derived by hydrothermal processing at 160 °C for 5 h.