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Paper
CrystEngComm, 2009, 11, 2677 - 2682, DOI: 10.1039/b909191m
Titania polymorphs derived from crystalline titanium diboride
Gang Liu, Hua Gui Yang, Chenghua Sun, Lina Cheng, Lianzhou Wang, Gao Qing (Max) Lu and Hui-Ming Cheng
Due to its specific bonds and intrinsic chemical stability and due to its capability of controllably releasing titanium species, TiB2 was chosen as a precursor for synthesizing phase tunable (rutile/anatase/brookite) titania with different morphologies (rutile nanocones, anatase bipyramids and brookite spherical nanoparticles) under hydrothermal treatment. The mechanisms of the chemical reactions involved and evolution of low-index crystal facets (001) and (100) of TiB2 during hydrothermal treatment were experimentally and theoretically studied in this work. It is demonstrated that a new synthetic pathway for titania polymorphs based on the intrinsic strong bonds of TiB2 is developed which could also be applicable to a number of other metal oxides using metal borides such as ZrB2, TaB, Nb3B4 as precursors.

