Morphology and characterization of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by arc discharge

High quality titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by arc discharge method. A mixture of anatase and rutile phase of TiO2 crystal nanostructure with spherical shape was produced with an average diameter of 50 nm (range 10–100 nm). Integrated crystal form and high crystallinity were discovered. Besides a dominate UV emission at 409 nm originating from the radiative annihilation of excitation, a weak peak at 658 nm from the oxygen vacancies related emission is also detected. Due to its simplicity of synthesis, the proposed arc discharge is a promising technique for the fabrication of TiO2 nanoparticles.