Polymorphic control in titanium dioxide particles.

The hydrolysis-condensation reaction of TiO was adapted to the phase inversion temperature (PIT)-nano-emulsion method as a low energy approach to gain control over the size and phase purity of the resulting metal oxide particles. Three different PIT-nano-emulsion syntheses were designed, each one intended to isolate high purity rutile, anatase, and brookite phase particles. Three different emulsion systems were prepared, with a pH of either strongly acidic (HO : HNO, pH ∼0.5), moderately acidic (HO : isopropanol, pH ∼4.5), or alkaline (HO : NaOH, pH ∼12). PIT-nano-emulsion syntheses of the amorphous TiO particles were conducted under these conditions, resulting in average particle diameter distributions of ∼140 d nm (strongly acidic), ∼60 d nm (moderately acidic), and ∼460 d nm (alkaline). Different thermal treatments were performed on the amorphous particles obtained from the PIT-nano-emulsion syntheses. Raman spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) were employed to corroborate that the thermally treated particles under HO : HNO (at 850 °C), HO : NaOH (at 400 °C), and HO : isopropanol (at 200 °C) yielded highly-pure rutile, anatase, and brookite phases, respectively. Herein, an experimental approach based on the PIT-nano-emulsion method is demonstrated to synthesize phase-controlled TiO particles with high purity employing fewer toxic compounds, reducing the quantity of starting materials, and with a minimum energy input, particularly for the almost elusive brookite phase.