Peering into the mechanism of low-temperature synthesis of bronze-type TiO₂ in ionic liquids

In this work, we present detailed investigations on the influence of binary ionic liquid (IL) mixtures on sol-gel syntheses of metastable metal oxide phases. The synthesis of the metastable TiO₂ bronze phase and anatase as well as the rutile modification is followed via in situ diffraction methods coupled with thermal gravimetric analysis. The variation of the composition of mixtures of ILs allows for the adjustment of TiO₂ phase composition at low temperatures. On the basis of these results, the synthesis of the hexagonal tungsten bronze-like titanium hydroxyl oxy fluoride was achieved. Our results pave the way for a deeper understanding of IL participation in the syntheses of inorganic nanomaterials, going further than treating them as solvents.