Direct Hydrothermal Processing of TiO2 Nanofibers from Natural Rutile Sand

Titanate nanofibers were synthesized by hydrothermal method (150 oC for 72 h) using natural rutile sand as the starting materials. TiO2 (B) and anatase TiO2 (high crystallinity) nanofibers with the diameters of 20-100 nm and the lengths of 10-100 μm were obtained by calcined titanate nanofibers for 4 h at 400 oC and 700 oC (in air), respectively. The samples characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, SAED, HRTEM, and BET surface area. This synthesis method provides a simple route to fabricate one- dimensional nanostructured TiO2 from low cost material.