Spherical submicrometer-sized titanium dioxide (TiO2 or titania) particles were prepared by the sol-gel method from hydrolysis and condensation of titanium alkoxide using different basic catalysts in ethanol/acetonitrile at different annealing temperatures. A systematic study was performed in order to determine the effect on the particle size and shape of the different reagents. Subsequently, they were deposited onto silicon wafers, in order to form a monolayer of TiO2 monodisperse particles. The titania particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy to determine size and shape, and by X-ray diffraction to find their crystal structure.
Spherical submicrometer-sized titanium dioxide (TiO 2 or titania) particles were prepared by the sol-gel method from hydrolysis and condensation of titanium butoxide Ti(OC 4 H 9 ) 4 using ammonia as a catalyst in ethanol/acetonitrile and annealing in air at 100ºC. Subsequently, they were deposited onto silicon substrates, in order to form a monolayer of TiO 2 particles. Then these samples were irradiated at room temperature with Si 2+ ions at 4, 6 and 8 MeV, with fluences in the 2×10 14 -2×10 15 Si/cm 2 range, under an angle of 45° with respect to the sample surface. The titania particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy to determine their size and shape before and after the ion irradiation. After the Si irradiation the spherical titania particles turned into ellipsoidal particles, as a result of the increase of the particle dimension perpendicular to the ion beam and the decrease in the direction parallel to the ion beam. This deformation effect increases monotonically with the ion fluence, and depends on the electronic energy loss of the impinging ion.
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