A Novel Approach for the Synthesis of Ti- and Zr-oxo Species as Precursors for Metal Oxide Nanopowder

Thermal and microwave irradiation treatment of Ti(OPri)4 and Zr(OBu)4 leads to the formation of homogenous and transparent oxo-alkoxy derivatives of titanium and zirconium in a quantitative yield. The oxo-alkoxy derivatives were characterized with the help of FT-IR, NMR, UV, Raman, GC–mass spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The physicochemical properties of gel differ considerably from their corresponding parent metal alkoxides. Hence, the gel can be considered as an immediate precursor for the preparation of functional metal oxide nanomaterials under mild conditions with control over particle size and its distribution, surface chemistry, and particle agglomeration. The morphology of the metal oxides strongly depends on the nature of the precursor and as well as synthetic methodology.