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Updated: May 28, 2026
TiO2-coated Hollow Glass Microspheres with Superhydrophobic and High IR-reflective Properties Synthesized by a Soft-chemistry Method
Published on: April 26, 2017
Single-crystalline rutile TiO2 hollow spheres: room-temperature synthesis, tailored visible-light-extinction, and
Hongqiang Wang1, Masahiro Miyauchi, Yoshie Ishikawa
1Nanosystem Research Institute (NRI), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan. hqwang@issp.ac.cn
Abstract:
A general synthesis of inorganic single-crystalline hollow spheres has been achieved through a mechanism analogous to the Kirkendall effect, based on a simple one-step laser process performed at room temperature. Taking TiO(2) as an example, we describe the laser process by investigating the influence of experimental parameters, for example, laser wavelength, laser fluence/irradiation time, liquid medium, and concentration of starting materials, on the formation of hollow spheres. It was found that the size-tailored TiO(2) hollow spheres demonstrate tunable light scattering over a wide visible-light range. Inspired by the effect of light scattering, we introduced the TiO(2) hollow sphere's scattering layer in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells and achieved a current notable 10% improvement of solar-to-electric conversion efficiency, indicating that TiO(2) hollow spheres are potential candidates in optical and optoelectronic devices.
