Fabrication and investigation of some properties of titanium dioxide nanorods/gadolinium oxide nanocomposites

The aim of this study was to fabricate nanocomposites of titanium dioxide nanorods/gadolinium oxide and to investigate some of their properties. So, in this research, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanorods were fabricated by microwave methods. The properties of crystal structure, morphology, optical, hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the samples were investigated. Nanocomposites of  5, 10, 15 and 20 percent of gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) were fabricated using titanium dioxide nanorods. The properties of the fabricated samples, such as crystal structure and morphology, were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, respectively. The results of experiments showed that titanium dioxide nanorod have a rutile phase with tetragonal crystal structure. The contact angle and visible-ultraviolet spectroscopy of the samples were also studied. Layer samples were made from titanium dioxide nanorods, gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) and also various nanocomposites by spin coating method. The contact angle of titanium dioxide nanorods was about 44 degrees, indicating the hydrophilicity of titanium dioxide nanorods. Also, the results showed that nanocomposites samples with TiO2 nanorods reduce the hydrophilicity. The optical gap of titanium dioxide nanorods was about 2.9 eV. The optical energy gap of nanocomposite samples with different percentages of gadolinium oxide was almost constant.