Novel synthesis of nanocrystalline TiC hollow polyhedrons

Abstract Nanocrystalline TiC hollow polyhedrons have been prepared at 500 °C by the reaction of TiCl 4 and CaC 2 . Crystalline CaC 2 particles with high melting point act not only as the reactant but also as the templates. X-ray powder diffraction indicates that the product is cubic TiC with a lattice constant a =4.314 A. Transmission electron microscopy manifests that the polyhedrons are 30–60 nm in size. The formation mechanism of the polyhedrons is discussed.