Beautiful TiO2 Nanostructures

Rational Design of 3D Dendritic TiO₂ Nanostructures with Favorable Architectures

Ziqi Sun†, Jung Ho Kim*†, Yue Zhao†, Fargol Bijarbooneh†, Victor Malgras†, Youngmin Lee‡, Yong-Mook Kang‡, and Shi Xue Dou†

Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials,University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia

Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Kongju National University, 275 Budaedong, Cheonan, Chungnam, Republic of Korea

J. Am. Chem. Soc., Article ASAP

DOI: 10.1021/ja208468d

Publication Date (Web): October 31, 2011

Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society

Controlling the morphology and size of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanostructures is crucial to obtain superior photocatalytic, photovoltaic, and electrochemical properties. However, the synthetic techniques for preparing such structures, especially those with complex configurations, still remain a challenge because of the rapid hydrolysis of Ti-containing polymer precursors in aqueous solution. Herein, we report a completely novel approach—three-dimensional (3D) TiO₂ nanostructures with favorable dendritic architectures—through a simple hydrothermal synthesis. The size of the 3D TiO₂ dendrites and the morphology of the constituent nano-units, in the form of nanorods, nanoribbons, and nanowires, are controlled by adjusting the precursor hydrolysis rate and the surfactant aggregation. These novel configurations of TiO₂ nanostructures possess higher surface area and superior electrochemical properties compared to nanoparticles with smooth surfaces. Our findings provide an effective solution for the synthesis of complex TiO₂ nano-architectures, which can pave the way to further improve the energy storage and energy conversion efficiency of TiO₂-based devices.