Title: Preparation and thermal treatment of titania aerogels

Authors: Yong Kong; Xiaodong Shen; Sheng Cui

Addresses: College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009, China ' College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009, China ' College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009, China

Abstract: TiO₂ aerogels were prepared by sol-gel process and supercritical carbon dioxide drying. The influence of thermal treatment temperature on the crystalline structures and pore structures of TiO₂ aerogels was investigated by X-ray diffraction and N₂ adsorption-desorption. The results showed that the fresh prepared TiO₂ aerogels were amorphous. After thermal treatment, the samples still possessed high surface areas and pore volumes, and the amorphous TiO₂ gradually transforms to anatase and further to rutile. The crystallite sizes presented a persistent increase with the rise of temperature. The light absorption and the band gap of samples treated at different temperatures were also surveyed by diffuse reflection ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy.

Keywords: titania aerogels; sol-gel process; supercritical drying; pore structure; ultraviolet visible; UV-vis spectroscopy; TiO2; thermal treatment temperature; nanotechnology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2013.056050

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2013 Vol.9 No.3/4, pp.253 - 260

Received: 03 Oct 2012
Accepted: 08 Jan 2013
Published online: 31 Mar 2014 *

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