Hydrothermal Synthesis and Morphology Control of TiO₂ Nanocrystals

Tailor-made TiO_<2> nanocrystals with well-defined exposed facets have attracted increasing research interest recently. The exposed facets greatly determine the reactive activity of TiO_<2> nanocrystals and dominate their application potential. Size-controllable TiO_<2> nanosheets with highly reactive {001} facets were synthesized by a conventional hydrothermal synthesis process. The particle sizes ranged from 25 nm to several micrometres and a tuneable percentage of {001} surface area ranged from 50% to 90% according to the particle size. TiO_<2> single crystal and higher-level mesoscopic assemblies with {001} facets, and TiO_<2> hollow microspheres were successfully synthesized by the modified hydrothermal approaches in this study.