ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

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

Khaled Haouemi, Fathi Touati, and Néji Gharbi

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

E-mail: khaouemi@gmail.com

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.

Keywords: sol-gel – microemulsion – nanodiscs – nanospheres – mesoporous

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-011-0130-2

Chemical Papers 66 (3) 202–210 (2012)