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.