Abstract: A cholesterol ester compound with positive charges used as a gelator was synthesized. The aggregation behavior of this compound in solvents was studied. Its supra-molecular aggregation was used as a template for the preparation of one-dimensional TiO₂ nano-materials through the sol-gel process. Different molar ratios of gelator to TiO₂ were applied to the preparation of nano-materials in the experiments. The size and the shape of TiO₂ nano-materials were observed by means of scanning electronic microscopy. The results indicated that the molar ratio of the precusor to the gelator in the experiments is an important factor for the success of the template transcription. The CD spectrum of the gel was recorded for confirming the relationship between the chiral molecular structure and the aggregated gel. The XRD results demonstrate that the TiO₂ nano-materials possess the anatase form of crystals. Primary photo-catalytic experiments were also carried out in this work for testing the photo-activity of the nanomaterials obtained by the bleaching process of dyestuff.

Key words: Cholesterol ester compound, Gelator, Nanomaterials, Sol-gel process, Photo-catalysis of TiO₂