Fabrication of porous titania sheet via tape casting: Microstructure and water permeability study

In this article, we report the effects of slurry formulation and sintering conditions on the microstructure and permeability of porous titania sheets prepared by tape casting. It was found that solid concentration and binder content in the titania slurry play a vital role in the porosity and microstructure of the sintered titania sheets. Solid concentration and binder content were optimized based on the green tape quality and open porosity of the sintered titania sheets. The optimum solid concentration with the lowest surface roughness was obtained at 0.61 g/cm³. The effects of temperature and sintering time on the open porosity and crystal structure of the final product were also investigated. Increasing the sintering temperature from 1000 to 1100 °C resulted in increasing the pore size from 170 to 264 nm and decreasing the open porosity. Finally, water permeability of the porous titania sheets was studied to evaluate the permeation flux and maximum operating pressure. The results revealed that the permeability of the porous titania sheet is increased not only by increasing the open porosity but also by increasing the pore size.     

Niobium and iron co-doped titania nanobelts for improving charge collection in dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells

Niobium (Nb) and iron (Fe) co-doped titanium oxide nanobelts were prepared in a one-pot alkaline hydrothermal process followed by calcination treatment, and evaluated in TiO₂ nanoparticle-based composite anodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Addition of Nb and Fe species caused an increase in donor density and trap-mediated charge transition, as characterized by electrochemical and photoluminescence analyses. Under illumination with simulated solar light, the co-doped single-crystalline nanobelts promoted photocurrent yield and open-circuit voltage, because they facilitate electronic conduction and chemical capacitance in the composite anodes. This improved photovoltaic performance is associated with the enhanced charge collection efficiency, mechanistically attributed to rapid electron transport and prolonged electron lifetime via shallow trapping sites. Results demonstrate that the Nb and Fe co-doped titania nanobelts are effective to provide longer electron diffusion lengths and favor charge accumulation during cell operation.     

FexCo1−x-doped titanium oxide nanotubes as effective photocatalysts for hydrogen extraction from ammonium phosphate

Theoretically, tri-ammonium phosphate (NH₄)₃PO₄ embeds considerable amount of hydrogen. Typically, the expected hydrogen release from this cheap and stable material is 73.83 mmol/g_salt if a proper catalyst is exploited in the hydrolysis reaction. In this study Fe_xCo_1?x-doped titanium oxide nanotubes are introduced as an efficient photocatalyst under solar radiation. The introduced modified titanium oxide nanotubes have been prepared in two successive steps. First, Na-doped TiO₂ nanotubes were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment in presence of 10 N NaOH solution at 160 °C for 16 h. Then, doping by the proposed metals was carried out by ion exchange process in a microwave oven. X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the success of the doping process and the nanotubular morphology, respectively. Study the photo characteristics indicated that the proposed metal doping shifted the band gap from UV to the visible light region as the estimated band gap energies for the as-prepared and doped nanotubes were 3.4 and 2.1 eV, respectively. Moreover, distinct enhancement for the visible light absorption capacity was observed. Accordingly, a distinguished improvement in the photocatalytic activity toward tri-ammonium phosphate hydrolysis was observed. However, the two metals content has a strong influence on the amount of the obtained hydrogen per gram of tri-ammonium phosphate salt. Numerically, the maximum obtained hydrogen was 4.0, 11.2, 11.2, 11.6, 13.4, 16.5, 17.4, 13.4 and 9.8 mmol/g_salt for the pristine TiO₂, and Fe_xCo_1?x-doped TiO₂ with x = 1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, and 0.0, respectively.     

New kinetic models for the crystallization of anatase nanoparticles from amorphous titania (TiO2)

In this article, amorphous Titania (TiO₂) nanoparticles were crystallized both in a solution environment and by a dry heat treatment using new kinetic models with the capabilities of more accurately predicting the polymorphic transformation behavior of TiO₂. In these models, both the nucleation and growth processes were simultaneously taken into account. The results were indicative of the Surface Nucleation (SN) of anatase occurring in a hydrothermal treatment process through the phase transformation. Also, both the surface and interface nucleation processes were found to play significant roles in the phase transformation kinetics when dealing with dry heat treatments at low temperatures. The proposed models were advantageous to any other published models, in which the nucleation mechanisms had been incorporated with suitable growth expressions. In other words, no experimental data of a particle size were required to investigate the phase transformation kinetics of TiO₂ nanoparticles in the models presented in this article.     

A spectroscopic method for quick evaluation of tint strength and tint tone of titania (rutile) pigment and factors affecting them

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) manufacturing industries measure optical properties such as brightness, colour, tint strength, tint tone, gloss, scatter coefficient, and others to ensure the quality of the product. Product characterization and process control generally focus on the optical properties, which determine its quality. In this work, titania rutile pigment with varying tint strength and tint tone is analyzed and a correlation is established between particle size and the optical properties such as tint strength and tint tone. It is observed that optical properties of titania pigment depends on the particle size as well as particle size distribution. A relatively faster evaluation of tint strength and tint tone can be made using the reflectance and particle size measurements. Analytical samples were prepared by ultrasonic dispersion of pigment in water containing calgon as dispersing agent. To verify the accuracy of the method, pigment tint strength and tint tone obtained from this study are compared with those resulting from traditional analysis. The results showed that the new method is viable.     

Synthesis and color tuning of titanium oxide inorganic pigment by phase control and mixed-anion co-doping

B and N co-doped anatase, rutile, and brookite TiO₂ (abbreviated as BN-Ana, BN-Rut, and BN-Bro) were successfully synthesized. The apparent color of as-obtain BN-Ana, BN-Rut and BN-Bro was red, cyan and yellow-green, respectively. The mechanisms of various coloring were concluded as the different band gap configurations and the formation of covalent B-N bonding. The nitridation time expressed less effect on changing the color. On the contrary, nitridation temperature enabled the distinct color changes by altering the brightness. Lower temperature, fewer doping concentration, and brighter apparent color, vice versa. Through tuning the brightness, a gradient of yellow-orange-red was achieved in the case of BN-Ana, as well the transitions of grey-to-cyan and white-to-pale-yellow were achieved in BN-Rut and BN-Bro, respectively. This research proposed a method for the synthesis of color-full titania pigment without the addition of other toxic transition metal elements.     

Effect of titania synthesis conditions on the catalytic performance of mesoporous Ni/TiO2 catalysts for carbon dioxide reforming of methane

The catalytic performance of 5 wt% Ni/TiO₂ catalysts with different physicochemical properties was studied for the CO₂ reforming of methane reaction. The TiO₂ supports were prepared by the evaporation-induced self-assembly method using three different titania metal precursors. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, TGA, and TEM techniques. The results showed that the phase composition of TiO₂ support plays a crucial role in catalyst performance. Furthermore, the variation of synthesis conditions significantly affects the physicochemical properties of TiO₂ support. NH₃-treatment helped maintain the higher surface area by retaining a significant fraction of the amorphous content of titania support. Catalysts deactivation was caused by the phase transformation of TiO₂ from anatase to rutile and the sintering of Ni metal. Phase transformation into rutile was more significant, with the catalysts possessing a higher content of amorphous TiO₂. Ni/TiO₂ catalyst prepared using the titanium ethoxide precursor performed better in the dry reforming reaction. Anatase titania offers strong metal-support interaction, whereas weak metal-support interaction was observed in the amorphous and rutile phase.     

Effect of different titania phases on the hydrogen gas sensing features of polyaniline/TiO2 nanocomposite

This paper presents a resistance-based hydrogen gas sensor using polyaniline (emeraldine)/TiO₂ nanocomposite (PT–NC) thin film. It is demonstrated that different gas sensing features can arise when various TiO₂ phases (anatase and rutile) are applied. The different wt% of TiO₂ phases were dispersed into an acidic solution of aniline monomers and PT–NCs were synthesized by an in-situ self-assembly chemical oxidative polymerization method of aniline. PT–NCs deposited on an epoxy glass substrate having Cu-interdigited electrodes for hydrogen gas sensing at air pressure and room temperature. Our results show that the better sensitivity of the sensor strongly depends on the sensor surface morphology and its components. Furthermore, hydrogen gas sensing mechanism of the sensor based contact areas between Pani chains and TiO₂ grains was studied.     

TiO_2表面改性对聚酰胺6纤维强度及染色性能的影响

将TiO2表面包覆无定形TiO2,再经复配偶联剂改性后,分散在己内酰胺-水体系中乳化,于聚合釜中水解开环聚合,得到全消光聚酰胺6(PA6)切片。PA6切片经熔融纺丝制得PA6全消光纤维,并织成PA6全消光织物。用热重分析仪、纳米激光粒度仪、沉降试验等研究了改性TiO2的性能及在己内酰胺-水体系中的分散性;用差示扫描量热仪、扫描电子显微镜等研究了PA6全消光纤维结晶性能和截面形貌。结果表明:经复配偶联剂改性的TiO2在树脂基体中有很好的分散性;PA6全消光纤维的可纺性好;加入改性的TiO2后,PA6纤维的强度提高了25%,但对PA6纤维的熔融温度没有影响;改性PA6全消光织物的上染率提高了10%。