Properties of Titanium Oxide Powder Synthesized from Various Salts Precursors

Abstract

Titanium oxide powders with different crystal structures and textural characteristics were synthesized. Metallic titanium and rutile (rutile particle size 25 μm, specific surface area 3 m²/g) were used as starting materials for the synthesis of titanium salts, which were subsequently decomposed. Titanium salts were obtained by interaction with mineral acids and ammonium carbonate. The obtained salts were thermally decomposed or hydrolyzed by the addition of ammonium hydroxide, which resulted in the precipitation of titanium oxide. The phase composition of the synthesized samples included rutile and anatase, as well as impurities of titanium fluoride observed at low firing temperatures. A relatively simple and economically feasible method for the synthesis of titanium oxide with specific surface area up to 92 m²/g has been proposed. This method involves simple chemical transformations, which include thermal decomposition of synthesized titanium halides. The best of the synthesized anatase samples had the shape of irregular polyps, specific surface from 56 – 92 m²/g, and particle size in the range of 20 – 60 μm.