Characterization of titanium oxide nanoparticles obtained by hydrolysis reaction of ethylene glycol solution of alkoxide

Abstract

Transparent and stable sols of titanium oxide nanoparticles were obtained by heating a mixture of ethylene glycol solution of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TIP) and a NH3 aqueous solution at 368K for 24h. The concentration of NH3 aqueous solution affected the structure of the obtained titanium oxide nanoparticles. For NH3 aqueous solution concentrations higher than 0.2mol/L, a mixture of anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles and layered titanic acid nanoparticles was obtained. The obtained sol was very stable without formation of aggregated precipitates and gels. Coordination of ethylene glycol to Ti 4+ ions inhibited the rapid hydrolysis reaction and aggregation of the obtained nanoparticles. The obtained titanium oxide nanoparticles had a large specific surface area: larger than 350m 2/g. The obtained titanium oxide nanoparticles showed an enhanced adsorption towards the cationic dye molecules. The selective adsorption corresponded to presence of layered titanic acid on the obtained anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles. © 2012 Naofumi Uekawa et al.