Study of the Effect of Titanium Dioxide Hydrosol on the Photocatalytic and Mechanical Properties of Paper Sheets.

Roberta Grazia Toro,Daniela Caschera,Tilde De Caro,Mohamed Diab,Mona Al-Shemy,Abeer Adel

doi:10.3390/ma13061326

Roberta Grazia Toro, Daniela Caschera + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13061326

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Abstract

Different amounts of a stable aqueous TiO2 hydrosol were used to fabricate paper sheets having photocatalytic activity. The TiO2 hydrosol was prepared in aqueous medium using titanium butoxide as precursor and acetic acid as catalyst for the hydrolysis of titanium butoxide. An aging process at room temperature and atmospheric pressure was finally applied to obtain crystalline anatase TiO2 hydrosol. The effects of different TiO2 hydrosol loadings on the mechanical strength and barrier properties of modified paper sheets were investigated in detail. The photocatalytic behavior of TiO2-modified paper sheets was investigated as well using methylene blue (MB) as target pollutant.

Highlights

The increase in environmental pollution related in part to the rapid growth of population as well as industrialization poses a serious concern for human life because of its negative effects on natural elements that are vital for life itself such as air and water
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) investigations pointed to the formation of quasi-spherical shape TiO2 nanoparticles with slight agglomerations, and an average size of about 3.8 nm
The image with higher magnification is shown in Figure 1b: lattice fringes indicated that the particles are nanocrystalline with anatase phase, which is confirmed by X-ray diffraction

Summary

Introduction

The increase in environmental pollution related in part to the rapid growth of population as well as industrialization poses a serious concern for human life because of its negative effects on natural elements that are vital for life itself such as air and water. It is highly attractive to incorporate TiO2 nanoparticles on flexible substrates. The anchoring of TiO2 photocatalyst on such flexible substrates is still challenging: the irregular shape of the fibers, very often, impedes the requirement for a sufficient interfacial adhesion of the photocatalyst to the fibers themselves, and an adequate photocatalytic activity

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