Rapid synthesis of TiO2 hollow nanostructures with crystallized walls by using CuO as template and microwave heating

In this paper, TiO2 hollow nanostructures with anatase walls have been rapidly fabricated by using CuO as template and microwave heating. These TiO2 hollow nanostructures have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Experimental results showed that the TiO2 shell transformed from amorphous to anatase phase in 3 min, induced by the hot CuO core under microwave irradiation. The diameter of TiO2 hollow nanostructures is about 50-80 nm, and the length is about 200-300 nm. The thickness of the shell is about 3 nm. This method is promising to be used to synthesize other nanomaterials with a hollow nanostructure. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.