A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of
Chemistry, University of Witwatersrand in fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
Johannesburg 2014 / The resin-gel method of synthesis successfully produced compounds of mixed
metal oxides of copper titanium oxide powders of the form CuxTiyOZ with
different compositions. These include Cu3TiO5, Cu3TiO4, Ti3Cu3O, Cu2Ti4O,
Cu2Ti2O5 and Cu2TiO3. Heat-treatment of the powders at 300°C, 500°C, 700°C
and 900°C for 1 hour was performed to determine the full
composition/temperature phase diagram. The target particle size was in the 10-
nanometer range, and for most of the samples, this size was achieved. Powder xray
diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were the main techniques
used to study the crystallization of these materials and their transformation to
other polymorphic phases under different temperatures. Phase-match, particle
size analysis and TEM imaging determined the properties and characteristics of
the respective crystallographic phases of these materials. TEM analysis showed
that some powders agglomerated while others exhibited both regular and
irregular morphologies and polydisperse particle size distribution. Only a single
unique phase was identified, but its structure could not be determined.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/15213 |
| Date | 21 August 2014 |
| Creators | Dziike, Farai |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.0023 seconds