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Acid acting as redispersing agent to form stable colloids from photoactive crystalline aqueous sol–gel TiO2 powder

  • Original Paper: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
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Abstract

In this work, the redispersion of three nanocrystalline TiO2 colloids is studied: one pure and two Fe-doped titania. These three colloids are produced by an easy aqueous sol–gel synthesis using precipitation-acidic peptization of Ti precursor. For the two Fe-doped TiO2, one is doped during synthesis (primary doping) and the other is doped after the synthesis (secondary doping). The initial colloids are composed of crystalline TiO2 particles around 7 nm with good photocatalytic properties, tested on PNP degradation under visible light (wavelength >390 nm). The powders obtained by air drying of these three colloids are redispersed in water to produce colloids, which are compared to the initial colloid produced. For each colloid, five cycles of drying redispersion are achieved. The colloids are characterized by dynamic light scattering, zeta potential measurements, inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements, Mössbauer spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and photocatalytic tests. The results show that similar products are obtained between the cycles, maintaining homologous properties of colloids. This property of redispersion is mainly due to the acid (HNO3, HCl, or H2SO4) which protonates the surface of the TiO2 nanoparticle leading to high-surface charges and electrostatic repulsions between aggregates. This property can be very useful for industrial applications of this synthesis, especially as it allows the volume and weight to be reduced for transportation and storage. Moreover, results show that the pure TiO2 powder can be doped during its redispersion step. The redispersion of the TiO2 developed here is possible without surface functionalization or multiple step processes, contrary to commercial Degussa P25. A 2-year stability study of all the produced colloids has been performed by following the evolution of the macroscopic aspect and the physicochemical properties of these sols. This study showed high stability of the produced colloids.

Highlights

  • Crystalline TiO2 colloids synthesized by aqueous sol–gel method.

  • Redispersion cycles of the TiO2 dried powder are studied.

  • Physicochemical and photocatalytic properties are maintained through redispersion.

  • Acid plays the main role as the redispersing agent of the crystalline powder.

  • Redispersion allows reduction of the volume and weight for transportation and storage.

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Acknowledgements

S.D.L. thanks the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) for her Associate Researcher position. The authors also thank the Ministère de la Région Wallonne Direction Générale des Technologies, de la Recherche et de l’Energie (DG06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering – Nanomaterials, Catalysis & Electrochemistry, University of Liège, B6a, Quartier Agora, Allée du six Août 11, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Julien G. Mahy, Fabien Deschamps, Stéphanie D. Lambert & Benoît Heinrichs

  2. Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules, University of Liège, Cesam-RU, Quartier Agora, Allée du six Août 13, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Valérie Collard & Christine Jérôme

  3. School of Natural Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Penrith South DC, NSW, 1797, Australia

    John Bartlett

  4. Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia

    John Bartlett

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  1. Julien G. Mahy
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Correspondence to Julien G. Mahy.

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Mahy, J.G., Deschamps, F., Collard, V. et al. Acid acting as redispersing agent to form stable colloids from photoactive crystalline aqueous sol–gel TiO2 powder. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 87, 568–583 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4751-6

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