Template-Free Formation of Meso-Structured Anatase TiO₂ with Spherical Morphology

Template-free synthetic approaches offer significant environmental and economical advantages in the synthesis of industrially important, high surface area, meso-structured metal oxide materials such as titania. Herein, we show that the simple, neutral, room-temperature, hydrolytic condensation of Ti(IV) n-butoxide dispersed in ethyl acetate followed by mild heating yields meso-structured, submicron-sized anatase spheres with high surface area and thermal stability (400 °C).