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Bicontinuous nanodisc and nanospherical titania materials prepared by sol-gel process in reverse microemulsion

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Abstract

TiO2 nanoparticles with different shapes and sizes were synthesised by the sol-gel route in Water/Brij78/Hexane reverse microemulsions. The aqueous cores of these microemulsions were used as nanoreactors to control sol-gel reactions. We studied the effect of water/surfactant mole ratio (W 0) on the morphology, and textural properties of the final products. The materials thus obtained were characterised by different techniques. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) was used to study the thermal behaviour of the products and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to identify the crystalline phases. The morphological and textural properties of the products were determined by scattering electron microscopy (SEM) and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, respectively. We also studied the influence of thermal treatment on the structure and size of the TiO2 particles. The effect of W 0 on the anatase-rutile phase transition temperature was investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Laboratory of Condensed Materials, Preparatory Institute of Engineering School of Tunis, 2 Jawaher Lel Nehru Street, Montfleury, 1089, Tunis, Tunisia

    Khaled Haouemi, Fathi Touati & Néji Gharbi

  2. National Institute for Research and Analysis Physico-Chemical, Technological Pole 2020, Sidi Thabet, Ariana, Tunisia

    Fathi Touati

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  1. Khaled Haouemi
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  2. Fathi Touati
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Correspondence to Khaled Haouemi.

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Haouemi, K., Touati, F. & Gharbi, N. Bicontinuous nanodisc and nanospherical titania materials prepared by sol-gel process in reverse microemulsion. Chem. Pap. 66, 202–210 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11696-011-0130-2

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