Patent ID: 8101152

Claim:
A method for forming nanometer-size particles of a titanium-containing oxide, comprising the steps of: adding a reductant to a liquid reaction medium maintained at a pre-determined temperature and contained in a reaction vessel under a dry inert gas atmosphere: sonicating the mixture of reductant and liquid reaction medium to finely disperse and uniformly distribute the reductant throughout the reaction medium; adding a titanium halide to the dispersion of reductant and liquid reaction medium to form a first reaction mixture while sonicating the first reaction mixture; holding the first reaction mixture for a time sufficient to enable substantially-complete reaction between the reductant and the titanium halide and form a first reaction product mixture comprising nanometer-size particles of titanium; adding an oxidant to the first reaction product mixture to form a second reaction mixture comprising the titanium particles while sonicating the second reaction mixture; holding the second reaction mixture for a time sufficient to enable substantially-complete reaction between the oxidant and the titanium particles to form a second reaction product mixture comprising a nanometer-size particles of a titanium-containing oxide; and separating the particles of titanium-containing oxide from the remainder of the second reaction product mixture.