Structural properties of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles prepared by chemical vapor synthesis

Transition metal (TM) oxides provide a wide range of functional materials especially when nanostructured. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and wurtzite type zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured materials were fabricated by chemical vapor synthesis (CVS). Crystal and local structures of the prepared nanosamples were ascertained using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), and extended Xray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) techniques. Based on the XRD data, a second phase(s) was not found in both samples. A single wurtzite and anatase type structures were observed in ZnO and TiO2 nanosamples, respectively. Ti K pre-edge features of XANES spectrum indicated the presence of sixfold coordinated Ti in TiO2 nanosamples. The results showed that CVS is quite useful method to produce high crystalline nanoparticles. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.