Preparation of flower-like titania particles from lithium titanate hydrate via acid treatment and hydrothermal crystallization

Micron-sized flower-like particles with plate-like titania petals were prepared by acid and posthydrothermal treatment of flower-like lithium titanate hydrate (LTH). Hydrolysis of titanium alkoxide and ethanol washing were used to create porous hydrous titania particles with spherical shapes. Hydrothermal treatment in LiOH aqueous solution resulted in the formation of plate-like crystals of LTH on hydrous titania particles. Li ions were removed with maintaining the appearance of the original flower-like particles by stirring in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid. In addition, the crystallinity of the particles as anatase was improved by hydrothermal treatment in pure water. Although having a micron-order size, the obtained particles showed almost the same photodegradation ability of Evans blue under ultraviolet irradiation as AEROXIDE® TiO2 P25.