On the possibility of controlling the morphology of carbon-containing titanium dioxide-based nanocomposites during pulsed plasma chemical synthesis

Three sets of carbon-containing nanocomposites based on titanium dioxide were synthesised by changing the concentrations of the original precursors (Сн₄, о₂) using a pulsed plasma chemical method. The elemental and chemical analyses of the synthesised nanocomposites were performed. The morphology of the carbon-containing titanium dioxide-based nanocomposites was studied by transmission electron microscopy. To determine the crystal structures of the nanocomposites, the standard method of X-ray phase analysis was used. The band gaps for the synthesised carbon-containing titanium dioxide-based composites were calculated using the diffuse reflectance spectra in the range of 1.3–3.6 eV. It was experimentally proved that the band gap for indirect transitions depended on the total carbon content in the synthesised samples and was 2.76 eV for some samples.