Design of crystal structures, morphologies and functionalities of titanium oxide using water-soluble complexes and molecular control agents

Nature produces materials with excellent physical and chemical properties using water as a medium under ambient temperature and pressure. The current need for more highly functional and compact materials makes the mimicking of natural processes to produce these materials a very interesting approach, not only to obtain highly functionalized materials but also to reduce the environmental impact. Our research group is engaged in the development of new stable water-soluble compounds that follow natural processes for the synthesis of materials using water as a medium. This paper summarizes a hydrothermal synthesis of rutile-type titanium oxide using water-soluble titanium complexes, controlling the crystal morphology by utilizing organic molecules as shape-control agents as well as their speculative formation mechanism and superior dielectric properties of unusually shaped titanium oxide crystals. By recapitulating our results, we indicate that control of the nano- and macro-structures and functional improvement are accomplished through the development of new precursor compounds.