Chemistry Assignment 2

Name: Nakade Uday Jagdish

Entry number: 2013PH10854

1. Some of the applications found in the paper are:

As a pigment: a pigment is a material which changes the colour of some
object by the property of selective absorption of light. TiO 2 absorbs most of
the wavelengths. Hence, it can be used to impart opacity and whiteness to
materials. It can be seen from the diagram shown below that most of the
visible light is
absorbed by TiO2. It
is also known for
scattering white
light.

TiO2 Absorption spectrum.

In sunscreens: absorbs UV light but scatters visible light (makes it transparent
instead of the older white creams).
In photocatalytic splitting of water (the Honda-Fujishima effect): TiO2 is highly
hydrophilic and in the presence of UV light, it splits water. It can also be used
to convert waste to CO2 and H2O in the presence of UV light.
2. In solid state chemical synthesis of materials, the basic method is the
ceramic method. But this method is not feasible in many situations. Many
times, precursors are used. These methods using precursors are called soft
chemistry routes. The various soft chemistry methods mentioned in the paper

are as follows:
SolGel Method
Micelle and Inverse Micelle Methods
Sol Method
Hydrothermal Method
Solvothermal Method
Direct Oxidation Method
Chemical Vapor Deposition
Physical Vapor Deposition
Electrodeposition
Sonochemical Method
Microwave Method
3. Sol-gel method of synthesis involves the acid or base catalysed hydrolysis
followed by condensation and polymerization. For the specific example of TiO2, we normally take Titanium tetra iso-propoxide and catalyse the reaction by
an acid. If medium amount of water is used and a high rate of reaction is
used, Ti(OH)4 is formed. But if low amount of water is used in a slow process,
TiOTi bonds are formed in a 3D polymeric structure. The result of the
polymerization process is a solid gel. When this gel is heated, we get a
xerogel. If the gel is dried under supercritical conditions, we get a very low
density material called an aerogel.
In the hydrothermal method, a peptized Ti precursor is heated with water in
an autoclave. The nanoparticle size depends on the peptizer used, its
concentration, etc. Longer chain peptizers lead to smaller particles.
4.

Nanowires
Nanospheres

Nanorods

Nanosheets

Nanotubes

Nanoplates

5. When a gel is heated so as to remove the liquid phase solvent from it, a
xerogel is formed. It still contains some amount of the solvent. If the gel is
dried under supercritical conditions, the solvent will be almost completely
removed without much shrinkage or change of shape. The Aerogel is a very
porous and very low density substance.
Aerogel cannot be obtained by directly heating the Xerogel because the

material will not remain porous. It will shrink.

6. A TEM image doesnt really provide a 3D effect in the images. SEM images
do. We can get the information about size and shape from these images.
Size and shape are important because we want nanoparticles. When we go to
the nano-dimensions, the quantum effects become important. Energy levels
become discrete. Also, the surface area to volume ratio is very high. This
leads to many different properties.
7. When a substance is in bulk, the atoms which are not at the surface have a
larger coordination number as compared to the surface. That is why,
generally, the surface atoms do not get sufficient bonds. Hence, the surface
is mostly unstable. A substance will always try to minimize its surface area.
This tendency of materials is very important as it affects the crystal growth
etc. everywhere.
8. Rutile is the stable state whereas anatase is the meta-stable state. The
formation of rutile is favoured at higher temperatures whereas anatase is the
kinetic product.