New water-soluble complexes of titanium with amino acids and their application for synthesis of TiO₂ nanoparticles

Abstract

We prepared two new water-soluble complexes of titanium with L-serine and L(-)-threonine amino acids. It was demonstrated that these compounds can be outstanding precursors for a hydrothermal synthesis of nanocrystalline TiO₂. The obtained powders were composed of anatase or a mixture of anatase and brookite. Particles diameters were ~10 nm and BET surface areas were ~120 m²/g. The powder composed of anatase and brookite synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of the titanium-threonine complex aqueous solution at 200°C for 24 h exhibited higher photocatalytic activity for oxalic acid oxidation than the commercial anatase-type TiO₂ photocatalyst (ST-01, Ishihara Sangyo Kaisya, average diameter: 7 nm, specific surface area: 257.5 m²/g).