Effect of calcination temperature on the crystallite size, particle size and zeta potential of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized via polyol-mediated method

Abstract

Abstract TiO2 nanoparticles (anatase and rutile) were prepared by polyol-mediated synthesis technique using titanium (IV) butoxide as titanium source, acetone as oil phase and ethylene glycol as the stabilizer. The prepared samples were dried in oven at 80 °C for 12 h and followed by calcination at 300 to 1000 °C. In this study, the effect of calcination temperature on the hydrodynamic particle size, crystallite size and zeta potential of the nanoparticles was investigated. Phase composition, surface morphology and surface properties were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and particle size analyzer (DLS, Dynamic Light Scattering). Based on the results, the nanoparticles showed the presence of anatase and rutile phases of TiO2. At 300 °C, only anatase phase exists, while as only rutile phase was present at 1000 °C. The sample calcinated at 600 °C showed the presence of both anatase and rutile phases. The mean crystallite size as calculated using Williamson-Hall method, increased from 9.3 to 66.9 nm when calcination temperature increased from 300 to 1000 °C. The hydrodynamic size of the nanoparticles increased with increase in the calcination temperature. The large zeta potential values (-30.8 to −37.5 mV) indicate greater stability of synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles in aqueous solutions.