In a typical synthesis, 200 mL ethanol was mixed with 1 mL of 0.1 M KCl solution and used as the solvent. Then 8.8 g tetrabutyl titanate was added dropwise into the solvent under continuous sonication for 10 min at ambient temperature. A white precipitate formed immediately. Then the suspension was stirred at a moderate speed for 6 h. After stirring, the precipitate was collected by centrifugation and washed by ethanol and deionized water for serious times. The washed precipitate (denoted as Ta) was dried at 60°C in the oven.
Then, 0.2 g of Ta was mixed with 2.55 mmol LiOHH2O in 25 mL ethanol-water (1 : 1 in volume) mixed solution. The resulting mixture was transferred into a 40 mL teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave and then placed in an oven at 180°C for 36 h. After the autoclave was cooled to room temperature, white powders (denoted as Tb) were collected and washed by ethanol and de-ionized water for several times to remove redundant LiOH. After drying at 60°C for 12 h, the obtained powders were sintering at 600°C, 700°C, and 800°C for 1 h in air, which were denoted as LTO600, LTO700, and LTO800, respectively.
