Structure of Exfoliated Titanate Nanosheets Determined by Atomic Pair Distribution Function Analysis

Colloidal suspension of titanate nanosheets has been prepared by exfoliation of Cs 0.67 Ti 1.83 O 4 through the intercalation of tetrabutylammonium (TBA). The atomic scale structure of the nanosheets has been determined using X-ray diffraction and the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) technique. The exfoliated titanate nanosheets have been found to be an irregular assembly of double layers of Ti−O 6 octahedra accommodating water and TBA molecules in the interlayer space. The interlayer distances show a wide distribution ranging from 9 to at least 18 Å. The separation between the titanate layers remains nearly the same in air-dried product of the colloidal suspension.