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Type: 
Journal
Description: 
A colloidal crystal-splitting growth regime has been accessed, in which TiO2 nanocrystals, selectively trapped in the metastable anatase phase, can evolve to anisotropic shapes with tunable hyperbranched topologies over a broad size interval. The synthetic strategy relies on a nonaqueous sol–gel route involving programmed activation of aminolysis and pyrolysis of titanium carboxylate complexes in hot surfactant media via a simple multi-injection reactant delivery technique. Detailed investigations indicate that the branched objects initially formed upon the aminolysis reaction possess a strained monocrystalline skeleton, while their corresponding larger derivatives grown in the subsequent pyrolysis stage accommodate additional arms crystallographically decoupled from the lattice underneath. The complex evolution of the nanoarchitectures is rationalized within the frame of complementary mechanistic arguments …
Publisher: 
American Chemical Society
Publication date: 
30 Nov 2011
Authors: 

Raffaella Buonsanti, Elvio Carlino, Cinzia Giannini, Davide Altamura, Luisa De Marco, Roberto Giannuzzi, Michele Manca, Giuseppe Gigli, P Davide Cozzoli

Biblio References: 
Volume: 133 Issue: 47 Pages: 19216-19239
Origin: 
Journal of the American Chemical Society