β-PbO2 hollow nanostructures from the complex precursor: A self-produced intermediate template route

A self-produced intermediate template (SPIT) route has been successfully introduced to prepare β-PbO2 hollow nanostructures of major hollow spheres and minor vessels under solution-phase conditions at 80 °C. Here, amorphous Pb(OH)2 colloids, which are obtained during the reaction process, acted as the intermediated template. The as-obtained final products were characterized by techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). XRD pattern shows that the as-prepared products are pure tetragonal β-PbO2, and microscopic images show that they are hollow structures. Possible mechanism was proposed to elucidate their formation based on the experiment results.