Porous, organically modified silica-based mixed oxides were prepared in a two-step process. First, a mixture of tetraethoxysilane, bis(triethoxysilyl)dipropylamine and, optionally, 1,4-bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene was treated with metal chlorides (ZrCl4, TiCl4, or AlCl3), and no water or water-based catalyst was added to the sols. After film formation, the materials were exposed to ambient humidity to achieve hydrolytic condensation of residual groups. Materials with wormhole-like ordered porosity and uniform mesopores were obtained with metal proportions up to about 20?%. According to XPS measurements, the metals are homogenously distributed in the silica matrix.

Two samples of mesoporous anatase nanoparticles, prepared by the sol-gel method, were characterised by Cs-corrected high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Statistical evaluation of TEM data showed an average diameter of these crystallites of 8.8 nm and 11.1 nm, respectively. Optical spectroscopy by cathodoluminescence (CL) in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed free exciton transitions related to the direct and the indirect band gap of anatase TiO2. From the analysis of the excited states of the free excitons an exciton binding energy of 10 meV and a Bohr radius of 2.35 nm is obtained. The small Bohr radius could explain the absence of quantum confinement in the particles presented in this study.

Nanosized rutile TiO2 has been prepared by sol–gel chemistry from a glycerol-modified titanium precursor in the presence of an anionic surfactant. The sample has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electrochemical tests. Nanosized rutile TiO2 has been electrochemically investigated using two potential windows: 1.2–3V and 1–3V. It exhibits excellent high rates capabilities and good cycling stability.

The influence of the TiO2 crystalline phase and of the surface area on the activity and stability/deactivation behavior of structurally well-defined mesoporous Au/TiO2 catalysts with comparable Au loading in the CO oxidation reaction was investigated by kinetic measurements under differential reaction conditions and by in situ DRIFTS. The crystalline phase and surface area of the TiO2 substrate were controlled by the pH and the type of the structure-directing surfactants applied in the synthesis. Au loading of the mesoporous oxides was performed by the same deposition–precipitation procedure for all catalysts. The resulting trends in the CO oxidation behavior, including the TOF based activities and the stability/deactivation behavior are discussed.

A metal film of Cu or Sn was vacuum-deposited on the surface of mesoporous anatase TiO2 electrodes, and the Li insertion/extraction behaviour was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling. The morphological and structural characterization of metal-coated electrodes showed that the metallic layers do not alter the structure of anatase. The electrode surface modification made by thin-film deposition improves the kinetics of Li insertion/extraction and remarkably enhances the electrochemical performances in terms of capacity and stability, especially at high charge/discharge rates.

Nanostructured titania is of particular interest for applications in photo-catalysis due to its high catalytic activity. Moreover, these structures are of particular interest for many applications due to their electronic properties, e.g. anti-reflection layers, sensors, vacuum microelectronics. The band gap of the nanoscaled semiconducting anatase is size dependent. The band gap increases in the size range of 15 nm to 3.9 eV [1], compared to the bulk value of 3.2 eV [2], suggesting already a quantum confinement effect. Nanowhiskers, grown in even smaller dimensions as in this study are prospective candidates for showing a transition to the quantum confinement effect.

The activity and stability of structurally well defined mesoporous Au/TiO2 catalysts with different support morphologies and pore sizes for low temperature CO oxidation was investigated by kinetic measurements and in-situ IR spectroscopy. The resulting catalysts with Au particle sizes of ∼3 nm exhibit a high activity for CO oxidation, similar to or exceeding that of highly active standard Au/TiO2 catalysts with similar size Au nanoparticles and loading, and a significantly lower tendency for deactivation. Possible reasons for the improved performance of these catalysts are discussed.

Mesoporous TiO2 was prepared via a sol–gel method from an ethylene glycol-based titanium-precursor in the presence of a non-ionic surfactant at pH 2. Only the anatase structure was detected after annealing, while the BET specific surface area was measured as being 90m2g−1 with a rather monomodal pore diameter close to 5nm. Electrochemical performances were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic techniques. Mesoporous TiO2 exhibits excellent rate capability (184mAhg−1 at C/5, 158mAhg−1 at 2C, 127mAhg−1 at 6C, and 95mAhg−1 at 30C) and good cycling stability.