Microstructure studies of potassium hexatitanate whiskers

Abstract

Microstructures of potassium hexatitanate (K2Ti6O13) whiskers prepared by calcination of KF and TiO2 mixture were studied through high-resolution electron microscopy. The rod axis of a K2Ti6O13 whisker is along the [010] direction. These whiskers normally have a lamellar structure in their longitudinal direction, and adjacent lamellae usually have the same crystallographic orientation. Each lamella might be further divided into several fine layers with a width on the nanometer scale in the same crystallographic orientation. The whisker can be split in the longitudinal direction along either the boundary between two lamellae or the weak binding crystal plane, such as (100) and (201) planes. The mechanisms for the formation of lamella and layer structures and for the splitting of whiskers are discussed.