Partic. vol. 1 no. 6 pp. 262-265 (December 2003)
doi: 10.1016/S1672-2515(07)60006-2

Research Note

Preparation and microstructure characterization of Ni/TiO₂ nanocomposite

Yucheng Wu^a,b,*, Xia Wu^a, Lide Zhang^b

ycwu@issp.ac.cn

Abstract

Homogeneous Ni²⁺-doped titania gel was synthesized by a sol-gel process, and the xerogel was then obtained through aging and drying, leading to the formation of Ni/TiO₂ nanocomposite after heat treatment under a suitable reducing atmosphere. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized by TGA-DSC, TEM, XRD and BET methods. The results show that the structure and grain size of the nanocomposites could be manipulated by altering the heat-treatment conditions, and that the nanocomposite possesses a mesoporous structure with a pore radius of ca. 28 nm and a specific surface area of 49.1 m²·g^-1. It is demonstrated that the nanosized Ni dispersion in the titania matrix significantly affects the anatase-rutile phase transformation.

Keywords

sol-gel; Ni/TiO₂; nanocomposite; mesoporus structure