Modulated Na₂Ti₄O₉:Zr nanobelt via site-specific Zr doping

Zr-doped sodium titanate nanobelts were obtained by a hydrothermal treatment of TiO₂ powder on Ti-based bulk metallic glass (BMG). The latest aberration-correction techniques were used to determine the atomic structure of Zr-doped sodium titanate nanobelts. The nanobelts were found to exhibit a structural modulation by the periodic Zr substitution of Ti atoms at 1.75 nm intervals. Systematic density-functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed the optimized atomic arrangement in consistency with the experimental results, and a reduction of the band gap value could possibly enhance the characteristics of the materials used in a variety of circumstances.