Synthesis of nano-scale TiO₂ particles by a nonhydrolytic approach

We describe a convenient nonhydrolytic approach to the preparation of uniform, quantum confined TiO₂ nanocrystals using an intramolecularly adduct stabilised alkoxide precursor. In contrast to established aqueous sol-gel techniques the processing in hydrocarbon solvents at high temperatures allows access to very small free standing crystallites, and opens up new possibilities for control over size distribution, surface chemistry and particle agglomeration.