New insights into polymer mediated formation of anatase mesocrystalsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Materials and experimental procedures, SEM and TEM micrographs, XRD and SAED patterns, Raman spectrum, FT-IR spectra, TGA analysis and MC size distribution data. See DOI: 10.1039/c6ce01985d

• Main Authors: Boytsova, Olga V, Sadovnikov, Alexey A, Yorov, Khursand E, Beltiukov, Artemii N, Baranchikov, Alexander E, Ivanov, Vladimir K, Zhong, Xiangli, Lewis, David J, O'Brien, Paul, Sutherland, Andrew J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1466-8033
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ce01985d

The reaction between (NH 4 ) 2 TiF 6 and H 3 BO 3 in the presence of varying quantities of PEG-6000 was used to form NH 4 TiOF 3 mesocrystals (MCs). The amount of PEG-6000, employed as a template, is crucial to the formation of defect free, non-agglomerated NH 4 TiOF 3 MCs; high concentrations lead to MC agglomeration, lower ones result in centralized defects. This polymer-mediated formation process may be understood using an analogy with known polymerization reactions. The oxofluorotitanate MCs readily undergo a thermal topotactic transformation to give anatase MCs with photocatalytic activity. The TiO 2 MCs are porous, with highly orientated lamellar crystallites that form part of the larger mesocrystal structure. New details of the non-classical formation of TiO 2 mesocrystals (MCs) from NH 4 TiOF 3 MCs are described.