Moderate hydrothermal synthesis of potassium titanate nanowires.

Fine titanate nanowires of K[sub 2]Ti[sub 8]O[sub 17] structure with a diameter of 5–10 nm and a typical length of several micrometers to several tens of micrometers have been synthesized hydrothermally via a reaction of titania particles and KOH solution. The growth of nanowires is along the [010] direction. The surface area of nanowires can exceed more than 300 m[sup 2]/g, which is expected to be significant in their applications to catalysis and other fields. Calcination over 600 °C causes K[sub 2]Ti[sub 8]O[sub 17] nanowires to decompose to K[sub 2]Ti[sub 6]O[sub 13] and TiO[sub 2]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]