Influence of Selected Alkoxysilanes on Dispersive Properties and Surface Chemistry of Titanium Dioxide and TiO₂–SiO₂ Composite Material

Abstract

The paper reports on characterisation of titanium dioxide and coprecipitated TiO 2 –SiO 2 composite material functionalised with selected alkoxysilanes. Synthetic composite material was obtained by an emulsion method with cyclohexane as the organic phase, titanium sulfate as titanium precursor, and sodium silicate solution as precipitating agent were applied. Structures of titania and composite material samples were studied by the wide angle X‐ray scattering method. The chemical composition of TiO 2 –SiO 2 composite material precipitated was evaluated based on the energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy technique. The functionalised TiO 2 and TiO 2 –SiO 2 composite material were thoroughly characterised to determine the yield of functionalisation with silanes. The characterisation included determination of dispersion and morphology of the systems (particle size distribution, scanning electron microscope images), adsorption properties (nitrogen adsorption isotherms), and electrokinetic properties (zeta potential).