Preparation and characterization of monolithic TiO2 aerogels

Monolithic TiO2, aerogels have been prepared from titanium n-butoxide by so l-get process and supercritical drying technique, and the structural proper ties of the aerogel samples have been characterized by means of SEM, TEM, X RD, IR, BET and pore distribution analysis. The results indicated that the optimum condition for preparing monolithic TiO2 aerogels was n[Ti(OC4H9)(4) ] : n(C2H5OH) : n(H2O) : n(HNO3)=1 : 18. 3 : 3. 75 : 0. 14. The final aerog els which consist of colloidal particles with diameters of about 5 mn were found to be with coherent uniform size and low density solid inorganic mate rials with porosity of about 90%, and contained mesopore in the range of 10 -20 nm. The monolithic TiO2 aerogels were of the pure amorphous form at roo m temperature, which would be converted into anatase and then into rutile b y increasing the temperature of heat treatment.