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

Roberta Grazia Toro; Mohamed Diab; Tilde de Caro; Mona Al-Shemy; Abeer Adel; Daniela Caschera

doi:10.3390/ma13061326

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

Materials (Basel). 2020 Mar 14;13(6):1326. doi: 10.3390/ma13061326.

Authors

Roberta Grazia Toro¹, Mohamed Diab², Tilde de Caro¹, Mona Al-Shemy², Abeer Adel², Daniela Caschera¹

Affiliations

¹ CNR-ISMN, Area della Ricerca Roma 1, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy.
² Cellulose and Paper Department, National Research Center, Giza 12622, Egypt.

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.

Keywords: TiO2 hydrosol; mechanical properties; photocatalytic paper; sol–gel process.