Rutile nano titania powders have been synthesized by the direct hydrolysis of TiCl_4 solutions under mild conditions. The crystalline size is about 6nm calculated from XRD data and the specific surface area is 175m~2/g. The powder was characterized by XRD, FT-IR and Raman spectra. TEM image shows that the round particle is about 200～400nm with small acicular at edge. It shows higher photocatalytic activity in the phenol degradation reaction than anatase that has very similar specific surface area. The agglomeration form of the prepared rutile titania with larger size of several hundred nano meters is very beneficial for further separation.

Key words: PHOTOCATALYSIS, ACTIVITY, TITANIUM TETRACHLORIDE, RUTILE, NANOPHASE MATERIALS, TITANIUM OXIDE, POWDER, REACTION, PHENOL, DEGRADATION