Role of Alkaline Fusion in the Growth of Sodium Titanite Nanostructures from Rutile Mineral

The paper presents a study on the use of alkaline fusion to produce nanostructured sodium titanate from rutile mineral. The spherical structure of the micron-sized starting material changed and transformed to a two-dimensional nanostructure after the alkaline fusion process. After 7 hours dissolution with 30% NaOH, the growth of sodium titanate nanorod is observed, and after undergoing prolonged dissolution, nanowires, with an average diameter of 20-40 nm and a length of 1-4 µm are formed. The study also showed that using 0.1M HCl to wash the titanate complex results in a sodium titanate that is free from NaOH residue, although at higher molarities, the nanostructure will collapse, and spherical grains formed. The important role of alkaline fusion in this hydrothermal process is that it will reduce dissolution time, while NaOH concentration is required for the growth of nanostructured sodium titanate.