Surfactant-assisted elimination of a high energy facet as a means of controlling the shapes of TiO2 nanocrystals

The surfactant-mediated shape evolution of titanium dioxide anatase nanocrystals in nonaqueous media was studied. The shape evolves from bullet and diamond structures to rods and branched rods. The modulation of surface energies of the different crystallographic faces through the use of a surface selective surfactant is the key parameter for the shape control.