A thick hierarchical rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial with multilayered structure

In the present paper, we synthesized a new type of rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial with a hierarchical nanostructure using a novel method, which combined dealloying process with chemical synthesis. The structure characters were examined using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial is thick in size (several 10 μm). The hierarchical structure of the rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial consists of large quantities nanorods and nanoflower arrays. The nanoflowers consist of serveral nanopetals with diameter of 100-200 nm. The cross section of TiO₂ nanomaterials presents a multilayer structure with the layer thickness of about 3-5 μm. The rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial has high specific surface area. The formation mechanism of the rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial was discussed according to the experimental results. The rutile TiO₂ nanomaterial has potential applications in catalysis, photocatalysis and solar cells.