Patent attributes
A titanium halide, preferably titanium tetrachloride, is reacted with suitable reductant, preferably an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, under ultrasonic excitation in a liquid reaction medium to form nanometer size particles of titanium which may incorporate unreacted reductant. The nanosized titanium particles may be a precursor for nanosized titanium oxide which is formed by oxidizing the titanium, preferably with a low molecular weight alcohol. When the titanium particles incorporate unreacted reductant the oxidation reaction will yield nanometer sized titanates. The nanosized particles, whether titanium oxide or titanates may be extracted by first filtering them from the reaction medium, followed by washing with water to remove any water-soluble reaction products followed by spray drying.
