Fabrication and Characterization of Highly Crystalline and Stable Phase-Pure Rutile Nanowires

A homogeneous thin layer of TiO2 has been successfully coated on the surface of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which were produced by catalytic chemical vapor decomposition method, via an in situ sol-gel method. The obtained MWCNT-TiO2 composite materials were heat treated in air at high temperatures, attempting to produce highly crystalline pure rutile nanowires. Through comprehensive characterization obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), the effect of heat treatment on crystallization and phase transformation was discussed, and the effect of absence of MWCNTs on the morphology of pure rutile nanowires was analyzed. Both anatase and rutile phases exist after heat treatment in 700 degrees C while only rutile phase exists after heat treatment in 800 degrees C. The crystal size of rutile is formed to be significantly larger than that of anatase, and the hollow tubular structure is found to be destroyed which resulted in nanowire structure.