Abstract
The polycrystalline nano-TiO2 was synthesized by the gaseous-liquid detonation (GLD) method using H2, O2, and TiCl4 as the mixture precursors. The effects of different molar ratios of precursors and initial reaction pressures on the nano-TiO2 crystalline structures were studied. The nanocrystal structures, components, particle size, and morphology were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results demonstrate that the nano-TiO2 consists of pure anatase-TiO2, pure rutile-TiO2, and the mixtures of spherical or quasi-spherical morphologies with particle size of 20~150 nm. Furthermore, the formation mechanism of nano-TiO2 by GLD method was analyzed. The relevant GLD parameters were calculated based on the C-J theory and the related chemical reaction data, which effectively verifies the influence of different molar ratios of precursors and initial pressures on the controllable synthesis of polycrystalline nano-TiO2.
Science Press
Nano-TiO2 is one of the most extensively used nanomaterials due to its stable chemical structure, biocompatibility, and physical, optical, and electrical properties, and it is normally used in catalysi
However, these conventional techniques require long time for production and advanced equipment. Compared with these techniques, the gaseous-liquid detonation (GLD) method has its unique advantages of simple operation and provides the high temperature and high pressure conditions for rapid reaction and growth of nanomaterial
In this research, different nano-TiO2 crystals were prepared by GLD method through adjusting the precursor (H2, O2, TiCl4, and C2H6O) content and initial pressure. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the crystalline structure, components, particle size, and morphology of nano-TiO2. Furthermore, by combining C-J theory with chemical reaction data, different crystalline structures of nano-TiO2 were analyzed.
The polycrystalline nano-TiO2 was prepared in the GLD system, as shown in

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of GLD system
1-high energy igniter; 2-vacuum pump; 3-barometer; 4-liquid atomizing system; 5-temperature control system; 6-exhaust gas treatment equipment
In a typical preparation procedure, the GLD tube was heated to 380~550 K after vacuuming (barometer reading-0.09 MPa). A certain amount of TiCl4 solution was injected by the atomizer into the tube. Then the mixed gas with a certain proportion of H2 and O2 was pumped into the GLD synthesis system until reaching the atmosphere pressure. The gaseous-liquid mixtures were placed statically for 5~10 min and then ignited using the electric igniter of 20~40 J. Finally, after the tube was cooled down to room temperature, the white products were collected from the inner wall of GLD tube and washed with absolute ethanol.
The nano-TiO2 phases and crystalline structure of the detonation products were characterized by D/MAX 2400 XRD (Cu Kα, λ=0.154 06 nm). The tube voltage was 40 kV, the tube current was 30 A, and the scanning range was 20°~80°. The morphologies of nano-TiO2 structure were observed using TEM (Tecnai F30, FEI) with point resolution of 0.2 nm and line resolution of 0.1 nm.
The gaseous-liquid mixture precursors consisted of gas mixture and TiCl4 was ignited by the high energy spark of 20~40 J to prepare nano-TiO2. During the GLD process, the detonation heat, high temperature, and high pressure were generated, resulting in the fact that the mixture precursors decompose into nano-TiO2. The related chemical reactions are as follows:
(1) |
(2) |
When the chemical equilibrium was attained, a steady-state detonation was achieved and its propagation rate was governed only by the thermodynamics and hydrodynamics. Assuming that a standing detonation wave is similar to the calculated shock waves, the laws of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy applied across the shock front may lead to the conservation equation
(3) |
(4) |
(5) |
(6) |
where ρ is the gas density, D is the detonation velocity, u is the particle velocity, P is the detonation pressure, e is the specific internal energy, Q is the released specific heat from explosions, γ is the isentropic adiabatic index exponent, V is the ideal gas volume, and the subscript 0 and CJ represent the physical quantities before and after rapid reaction, respectively. Internal energy ei can be expressed by
(7) |
Assuming that γ0=γCJ=γ, P0<<PCJ, the results can be calculated according to Eq.(
(8) |
(9) |
(10) |
(11) |
The calculation of gaseous detonation heat is based on Hess's law of thermochemistry. According to the first law of thermodynamics, the relationship between thermal effect at constant volume QV and constant thermal effect QP can be expressed by
(12) |
where Vi and Vj refer to the volume content of gas before and after the reaction, respectively. Assuming that the gas temperature T is constant before and after detonation reaction, the equation of the state of prefect gas can be obtained as
(13) |
where R is the constant of the perfect gas, and ni and nj refer to the molar content of gas before and after the reaction, respectively. QP after detonation can be calculated by the enthalpy increase of the system, as expressed by
(14) |
where and are standard molar enthalpies of detonation products and precursors, respectively. Assuming that the heat capacity at constant pressure CV is only a function of temperature T, according to laws of thermodynamics, the detonation heat at constant pressure can be expressed by
(15) |
where Tj is the detonation temperature; Ti is the initial temperature; t is the temperature difference before and after detonation; CV,j is the average molecular thermal capacity at constant volume for detonation products. CV,j can also be expressed by
(16) |
where aj and bj are the molecular constant volume heat capacity of detonation reaction product components. For CV of all the detonation products, it can be summarized according to
(17) |
where A=∑njaj and B=∑njbj. Substituting
(18) |
Nineteen specimens were prepared under different conditions according to
The XRD patterns of prepared nano-TiO2 products are shown in

Fig.2 XRD patterns of S1~S5 (a), S6~S9 (b), S10~S13 (c), S14~S16 (d), and S17~S19 (e) specimens
The average crystal size of nano-TiO2 powder can be calculated by the Scherrer equation: D=Kλ/βcosθ, where D is the average crystal size of grains, K is a constant of 0.89, λ represents the X-ray wavelength, β represents the half-peak width of the corresponding diffraction peak, and θ represents the Bragg angle of diffraction peaks. The calculated results of average crystal size of nano-TiO2 powder are shown in
The crystal content of anatase-TiO2 and rutile-TiO2 from gaseous detonation can be calculated by Spurr and Myers formul
(19) |
(20) |
where IA represents the integrated intensity of the (101) peak of anatase-TiO2, IR represents the height of (110) peak of rutile-TiO2, and KA is a constant of 0.884. The calculated results are shown in
The microstructure of representative products S1, S6, and S13 was investigated by TEM, as shown in

Fig.3 TEM images of S1 (a, b), S6 (c, d), and S13 (e, f) specimens

Fig.4 Influence of different initial reaction conditions on contents of anatase-TiO2 and rutile-TiO2: (a) H2 content; (b) O2 content; (c) TiCl4 content at 423 K; (d) initial pressure; (e) TiCl4 content at 413 K
During the GLD process, the leading shock wave flows through unreacted gas mixtures may cause a series of violent chemical reactions. The detonation heat under the atmosphere of high temperature and high pressure is generated rapidly during GLD chemical reaction. The GLD parameters were calculated based on the C-J theory, as shown in

Fig.5 Variation of rutile-TiO2 content and detonation velocity with calculated temperature under the former condition (a); variation of anatase-TiO2 and detonation velocity with calculated temperature under the latter condition (b)
1) Nano-TiO2 of different crystal structures have spherical or quasi-spherical shapes with good dispersity, and the crystal size is 20~150 nm.
2) Under the conditions of stable gaseous-liquid detonation (GLD), when the content of H2 or O2 exceeds that of TiCl4, the production of anatase-TiO2 is increased. With the same ratio of H2 to O2, the increase of TiCl4 content contributes to the formation of rutile-TiO2. With increasing the initial pressure of H2-O2 and retaining the TiCl4 content, the formation of rutile-TiO2 is increased.
3) The condition of detonation temperature of 2400~2600 K and detonation velocity of 2100~2200 m/s is conducive to the formation of anatase-TiO2 when the half content of water vapor from reaction of H2 and O2 is more than or equal to the content of TiCl4. When the half content of water vapor originating from reaction of H2 and O2 is less than the content of TiCl4, the formation of rutile-TiO2 is increased under the condition of detonation temperature of 3000~3500 K and detonation velocity of 1800~2000 m/s.
4) It is difficult to synthesize nano-TiO2 with desired crystalline structure, i.e., the controllable accuracy of detonation reaction conditions and detonation parameters of GLD needs to be further verified.
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