Fabrication of ordered macroporous rutile titania at low temperature

Abstract

Macroporous rutile titania has been prepared by centrifugation sedimentation and evaporation approaches with TiCl₄ as the precursor and polystyrene (PS) spheres as the template. The nanocrystalline rutile titania particles were first synthesized at room temperature, then used to fill the voids between the PS spheres. The macroporous material was obtained after calcination at 450 °C. This is the first report of ordered macroporous rutile titania being obtained by calcination at such a low temperature. XRD results reveal that the titania nanoparticles of the as-synthesized and macroporous materials after calcination are rutile crystalline. SEM images show that the PS spheres and macroporous rutile form three-dimensionally ordered close-packed structures.