Synthesis of Three-Dimensional Agaric-like Biomorphic TiO2 by a Facile Method with Coscinodiscus sp. Frustule

• Published in: Journal of Ocean University of China 2012-12, Vol.11 (4), p.507-510
• Main Authors: Zhang, Qianqian, Chen, Ran, Li, Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Materials science; Meteorology; Microstructure; Nanotechnology; Oceanography; Sodium hydroxide; TiO2; Titanium dioxide; X-ray diffraction; 三维; 二氧化钛纳米颗粒; 合成; 海藻; 生物形态; 细胞膜
• ISSN: 1672-5182; 1993-5021; 1672-5174
• DOI: 10.1007/s11802-012-2031-6

The paper aims to expand the application of natural marine algae. Marine diatoms, which have intricate frustule struc- tures, can serve as bio-template for preparing three-dimensional materials. A simple and effective approach to synthesize the corru- gated agaric-like biomorphic TiO2 templated with frustule of Coscinodiscus sp. is reported. In the sol-gel preparation process, the titania-coating on the frustule is prepared through the deposition and condensation with the aid of acetylacetone （acac） as a control- ling agent to make the precursor Ti（BuO）4 hydrolyze slowly. The as-prepared titania-coated frustule and biomorphic TiOz is charac- terized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） attached with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer （EMAX） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The microstructure of the corresponding titania nanoparticles appears to be sphere with the diameters distributed around 10-20nm. The templating process is repeated for three cycles. Subsequently, the three-dimensional freestanding corrugated aga- ric-like biomorphic TiO2 structure is obtained by a selective removal in the NaOH solution. As far as we known, the 3D freestanding corrugated agaric-like biomorphic TiOz with greatly increased surface area is obtained for the first time.