Highly conductive nano-sized Magnéli phases titanium oxide (TiOx)

Arif Aditya F

Balgis Ratna

Ogi Takasi

Iskandar Ferry

Kinoshita Akihiro

Nakamura Keitaro

Okuyama Kikuo

Scientific Reports

Despite the strong recent revival of Magnéli phase TiOx as a promising conductive material, synthesis of Magnéli phase TiOx nanoparticles has been a challenge because of the heavy sintering nature of TiO2 at elevated temperatures. We have successfully synthesized chain-structured Magnéli phases TiOx with diameters under 30 nm using a thermal-induced plasma process. The synthesized nanoparticles consisted of a mixture of several Magnéli phases. A post-synthesis heat-treatment was performed to reduce the electrical resistivity without changing the particle morphology. The resistivity of the heat-treated particle was as low as 0.04 Ω.cm, with a specific surface area of 52.9 m2 g−1. The effects of heat-treatment on changes in the crystal structure and their correlation with the electron conductivity are discussed based on transmission electron microscopy images, X-ray diffraction spectra, and X-ray adsorption fine structure spectra. Electrochemical characterization using cyclic voltammetry and potentiodynamic scan shows a remarkable electrochemical stability in a strongly oxidizing environment.

eng

Nature Research

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[DOI] 10.1038/s41598-017-03509-y

[PMID] 28623278

[DOI] https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03509-y

[ISSN] 2045-2322