Dear All,
I am trying to synthesize TiO2 sol using the hydrolysis technique with Titanium Butoxide as a precursor, the reference as attached below.
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The process is very simple as follow,
Beaker 1: 5 ml DI Water + 70 ml Ethanol @ 80°C, Stir
Beaker 2: 5 ml Ethanol + 0.075 ml H2SO4 + 0.18 ml Ti(Butoxide)
Add beaker 2 in Beaker 1. The clear solution will start turning turbid with time and after 12 hours a TiO2 sol will be formed.
However, when I add Ti(butoxide) in ethanol, it instantly changes to yellow color, which in reality should remain colorless (transparent).
Can anyone give his/her feedback and suggestions on what can be causing this issue?
I will be really thankful for the feedback.
Thanks
Hi Umair Nisar, in the chemistry of titanium(IV), a yellow coloration is normally associated with the formation of the peroxotitanium cation, (TiO2)2+. It forms from titanyl sulfate and TiO(SO4) + H2O2 → TiO2(SO4) + H2O
This reaction is used as a detection reaction for hydrogen peroxide. Of course you have no H2O2 in your reaction system, but you do have sulfuric acid. Thus some titanyl sulfate can form in first place. One should keep in mind that the detection reaction shown above is very sensitive. Thus it needs only traces e.g. of organic peroxides to cause the yellow color. After all, I am inclined to say that you can simply ignore the yellow color. Good luck!
Frank T. Edelmann Thank you very much for your response and explaining this in detail. Actually, due to this yellow color (reaction), the precipitates of TiO2 are not forming, which is the main concern for me.
My suggestion would be to gradually add a few more milliliters of water and see if the TiO2 precipitates.
Frank T. Edelmann Thank you for your suggestion, I will surely try this approach as well.
Dear Umar,
I tried to prepare TiO2 from titanium butoxide. I used 1 M HCl as a catalyst, distilled water and ETOH. I noticed that after adding few milliliters of water the color of the solution change from yellow to turbid. However, I used the sol for coating.
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