Synthetic Architectures of TiO₂/H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O, ZnO/H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O, ZnO/TiO₂/H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O, and ZnO/TiO₂\nNanocomposites

Abstract

Although synthetic investigations of inorganic nanomaterials had been carried out extensively\nover the past decade, few of them have been devoted to fabrication of complex nanostructures that comprise\nmulticomponents/phases (i.e., composite nanobuilding blocks), especially in the area of structural/morphological architecture. In this work, nanobelts of a protonated pentatitanate (H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O) were\nsynthesized hydrothermally for the first time. Two technologically important transition-metal-oxides TiO₂\nand ZnO were then grown respectively or sequentially onto the surface of the as-prepared nanobelts in\naqueous mediums. With a main emphasis on organizational manipulation, the present investigation examines\ngeneral issues of morphological complexity, synthetic interconvertibility, and material combinability related\nto fabrication of inorganic nanocomposites. Using this model material system, we demonstrate that complex\nbinary and tertiary composite building blocks of TiO₂/H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O, ZnO/H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O, ZnO/TiO₂/H₂Ti₅O₁₁·H₂O, and ZnO/TiO₂ can be architected stepwise in solution. Structural features of these nanocomposites\nhave also been addressed.