Skip to main content

Difference between Anatase and Rutile Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Nanoparticles

Titanium oxide is the one of the top 50 chemicals which are produced in worldwide. It occurs in nature in three forms anatase, rutile and brookite. However, commonly, anatase and rutile forms have been used and studied. Naturally, it has whitish and opaque appearance, and through purification, it becomes whiter. Difference in crystal structure of these two forms as you can see in Figure 1 aroused interest in discrepancies between these forms, and many studies have been conducted.
Figure 1: Crystalline structure of titanium dioxide anatase (a) and rutile (b) Ti and O atoms are represented in white and red respectively. 
                                   
                                                         P. Mazzolini, Functional Properties Control of TİO2 for Transparent Electrodes and Photoanodes, 2015
Difference between Characteristics of Rutile and Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles
In general, scholars studied comparison of photocatalyst and carcinogen characteristics, and production methods between anatase and rutile forms of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. First of all, there is a band gap difference, and anatase has about 3.2 eV band gap, and rutile has about 3.0 eV band gap. Since absorption is inversely proportional to band gap, rutile can absorb more light than anatase. According to photoconductivity measurements, electron-hole pair life time is in anatase is longer than one in rutile, so more charge carriers in anatase participate in surface reactions. In addition, there are researches about toxicology of anatase and rutile titanium dioxide nanoparticles in particular subjects. Results show that anatase is more toxic than rutile. These are the fundamental comparisons, but there are also difference in usage and applications which are both rutile and anatase forms are used.
TiO2 Nanoparticles Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles Rutile
In a study, N.-G. Park, J. van de Lagemaat, and A. J. Frank working about Comparison of Dye-Sensitized Rutile- and Anatase- Based TiO2 Solar Cells concluded that the short-circuit photocurrent of the rutile-based cell is about 30% lower than anatase-based cell. Another scholars studied on different toxicity of rutile and anatase TiO2 nanoparticles on macrophages: Involvement of difference in affinity to proteins and phospholipids, and the conclusion is that with similar size and zeta potential, rutile and anatase titanium dioxide have different damage effect on organelles in macrophages and different toxicity. The rutile nanoparticles have a high affinity to phospholipids while the anatase nanoparticles have high affinity to proteins.
These differences enhance the range of applications of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. In some applications the difference become an advantage, and both forms are used. Many such applications will be found and developed using the discrepancies.
Visit single metal oxide nanoparticles
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Titanium Carbide Powders and Applications

Titanium carbide which has the chemical formula of TiC attracted great interest for many structural applications due to its extremely high melting temperature, high hardness, high chemical resistance and good electrical conductivity. Therefore titanium carbide can be used in cutting tools, grinding wheels, wear-resistant coatings, high temperature heat exchangers, magnetic recording heads, turbine engine seals, and bullet-proof vests, etc. In addition, a promising field of application comprises plasma and flame spraying processes in air, where titanium carbide-based powders show high-phase stability. TiC(Titanium Carbide Powder) (325 mesh, 99,9+%)  can also be used in biomedical implant devices. Materials used for biomedical implant devices must satisfy a variety of property demands, which are often mutually exclusive. Further, different parts of a device demand different material properties. These factors often make it difficult to manufacture a medical device using a...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Way of Deaf-Mute Communication with 3D Graphene

Image retrieved from: http://blogs.rsc.org/cc/2016/09/01/3d-graphene-adds-dimension-to-deaf%E2%80%93mute-communication/ Chinese scientists have developed wearable electronic device with conductive 3D graphene structure to translate sign language into written text. This technology can be applied by injecting graphene ink from a syringe under printed electronic field. For medical field, such as adhesive patches which determine heart, brain signal and neural activity, wearable and bio-integrated medical devices are very important. Due to noticeable properties of cast graphene, for example a 2D honeycomb lattice, excellent mechanical and electrical behaviors, Graphene has an important material in warble technology. However, it is difficult to preserve advantages of Graphene material in a 3D material which has an information about forces from every angle. Yanlin Song  and co-workers at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and Shenyang Jianzhu University...
Post a Comment
Read more

Carbon Nanotubes Doped with Graphene Nanopowder and Applications

Carbon nanotubes and graphene are different forms of carbon atom based materials. They have different properties and can be used in various applications. But what happens if we use them as a hybrid structure? The excellent mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of low-dimensional carbon materials like graphene and carbon nanotube have enabled them as promising building blocks for three-dimensional nanoarchitectures. In this regard, extensive interests have been attracted to synthesize graphene and carbon nanotube hybrid structures. Earlier works suggested that  Carbon Nanotubes Doped with Graphene Nanopowder (52 wt% Graphene )  is a promising solution for quick energy dissipation, which could enhance interface thermal conductivity of the ‘building blocks’ for future nanoscale mechanical and electrical devices. In the electricity perspective, it is found that ‘CNT pillared-graphene’ system would extend the excellent electrical conductivity of graphene and nanotube to ...
Post a Comment
Read more