Synthesis and Characterization of Srilankite Nanowires

We describe the synthesis and characterization of srilankite (Ti₂ZrO₆) nanowires. The nanowires are produced via hydrothermal synthesis with a TiO₂/ZrO₂ mixture under alkaline conditions. The zirconium titanate nanowires have median diameters of 60 nm and median lengths of 800 nm with the 〈022〉 axis along the length of the nanowire. Electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and electron diffraction are used to characterize the phases and compare nanowires produced with varying molar ratios of Ti and Zr. Electron diffraction patterns produced from single nanowires show highly crystalline nanowires displaying a compositional-ordering superlattice structure with Zr concentrated in bands within the crystal structure. This is in contrast to naturally occurring bulk srilankite where Zr and Ti are randomly substituted within the crystal lattice. Streaking is observed in the electron diffraction patterns suggesting short-range ordering within the superlattice structure.