Synthesis and Characterization of Size-Controlled Titania Nanorods through Double Surfactants

Mai-Phuong La; Jia-Wei Shiu; Tun-Fun Way; Syang-Peng Rwei

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c00463

Synthesis and Characterization of Size-Controlled Titania Nanorods through Double Surfactants

Inorg Chem. 2021 Jun 7;60(11):7952-7960. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c00463. Epub 2021 May 19.

Authors

Mai-Phuong La^{1

2}, Jia-Wei Shiu^{1

2}, Tun-Fun Way², Syang-Peng Rwei^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Organic and Polymeric Materials, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan, R.O.C.
² Research and Development Center for Smart Textile Technology, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan, R.O.C.

PMID: 34008973
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c00463

Abstract

A synthetic technique based on a two-step sol-gel hydrothermal method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and triblock copolymer PEO₁₀₆-PPO₇₀-PEO₁₀₆ (F127) as double surfactants with the assistance of three amines (ethylamine (EA), diethylamine (DEA), and triethylamine (TEA)) for fabrications of anatase titania nanorods is proposed. The formation and growth mechanisms of TiO₂ crystals are described. We discovered that crystal size reduces with an increase in the number of alkyl substituents on the nitrogen of amines because the steric hindrance of the bulky alkyl substituent around nitrogen suppresses the nucleation and crystal growth rate. The size of titania from 80 to 220 nm is modulated with concentrations of EA, DEA, and TEA. The amines are considered as catalysts for morphological evolution of TiO₂ crystals. The results indicate that the incorporation of double surfactants (F127-CTAB) has a dual role, acting as a chelating agent for titania against external forces and a capping agent inhibiting the three-dimensional growth of TiO₂ crystals.