Nanocrystals, potential energy surfaces

The synthesis of 2-3 nm sized titanium dioxide nanocrystals and their self-assembly toward mesoporous Ti02 spheres was achieved in an ionic liquid under mild conditions. The resulting structures combine the convenient handling of larger spheres with a considerable high surface area and narrow pore size distribution and are expected to have potential in solar energy conversion, catalysis, and optoelectronic devices. In a typical synthesis of Ti02 nanoparticles, l-butyl-3-methylimidazoliumtetrafluoroborate was used as solvent (Zhou Antonietti, 2003). 

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