Titanate nanowires were synthesized through the hydrothermal synthesis route (10 M NaOH, 130
C)from anatase in a rotating
autoclave. A combined TEM, SEM, XRD, FT-Raman, and N
2 adsorptioninvestigation of the reaction products as a function of time revealed that the 60-150 nm wide and ~5
m long nanowires are in fact formed by the merging of self-assembled nanotube bundles. The nanowiresare able to further self-assemble into ~5
m wide and longer than 30
m long, dense "superbundles" ifthe reaction is allowed to run long enough. We propose that the spontaneous nanotube arrangementcould be caused by the rotation-assisted oriented attachment of the tubes.