Titanium oxide nanorods extracted from ilmenite sands

One dimensional titanium oxides (TiO₂) nanorods and nanowires have substantial applications in photocatalytic, nanoelectronic, and photoelectrochemical areas. These applications require large quantities of materials and a production technique suitable for future industry fabrication. We demonstrate here a new method for mass production of TiO₂ nanorods from mineral ilmenite sands (FeTiO₃). In this process, powder mixtures of ilmenite and activated carbon were first ball milled; the milled samples were then heated twice at two different temperatures. First high-temperature annealing produced metastable titanium oxide phases, and subsequent second low-temperature annealing in N₂-5%H₂ activates the growth of rutile nanorods. This solid-state growth process allows large-quantity production of rutile nanorods.