Influence of ultrasonic field on titanium sol property and material microstructure

Titanium sols with small particle size and narrow particle size distribution was obtained by ultrasonic sol-gel method, using tetrabutyl titanate as precursor, acetylacetone as chelating agent, and nitric acid as catalyst. And also the influences of ultrasonic irradiation time and intensity on titanium sols and the microstructure of titania materials were investigated. Rheometer, particle analyzer, X-ray diffraction and low temperature N₂ adsorption-desorption techniques were used to analyse the viscosity and particle size of the titania sols and the microstructure of titania materials systematically. It was showed that the diameter of titania sols became smaller, but the viscosity of titania sols changed very little under different ultrasound conditions, and also the stability of sols was very well. Moreover, with the increasing of ultrasonic time and ultrasonic intensity, specific surface area and pore volume of titania materials increased, while the sizes of titania particle decreased and also mesoporous anatase titania was obtained. Therefore, to prepare narrow pore-size TiO₂ membranes have great application prospects by using ultrasonic sol-gel method.