Ethylene glycol-mediated synthesis of nanoporous anatase TiO2 rods and rutile TiO2 self-assembly chrysanthemums

Nanoporous anatase TiO2 rods and rutile TiO2 chrysanthemums were successfully synthesized via a simple ethylene glycol-mediated synthesis route. Their morphologies, phase compositions and components were characterized by SEM, TEM, Raman and IR, respectively. The results show that a self-assembly growth takes place in the calcination under vacuum, which makes the titanium glycolate rods transform into rutile TiO2/C chrysanthemums rather than anatase TiO2 rods. It also indicates that the carbon plays an important role in the phase transition process which promotes the phase transition to rutile TiO2 at a lower temperature (400 oC). It provides a new approach to prepare nanoporous rutile TiO2 nanomaterials under low temperature.