Introduction.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has recently attracted a lot of attention for its biocompatibility, eco-friendliness, photocatalytic properties, and polymorphism properties [1,2]. Studies have been published to produce TiO2 using the sol-gel method as a precursor of titanium (III) chloride (TiCl3)[3,4]. The copolymerized aramid fiber has high mechanical properties, but has a disadvantage of low UV-resistance. In this study, copolymerized aramid fibers were immersed in a TiCl3 precursor solution, and TiO2 was coated on the fiber surface through a low-temperature reaction. The production and characteristics of diverse surface structures of the fiber were investigated.

Experimental/methodology.

TiCl3 and DI water were mixed at varying concentrations and stirred to form a solution, which was subsequently used to immerse copolymerized aramid fibers and react at 70 °C. The resulting solution was filtered to obtain particles, which were subsequently dried. The morphology and chemical composition of the particles were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. The crystalline phase of the particles was confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD)

Results and discussion.

Rate of weight gain of coated fibers produced under different concentration conditions are resented in Figure 1.

Fine white particles were obtained by drying the precipitate obtained by filtering the reacted solution according to the conditions. FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of TiO2, with XRD analysis revealing the main crystalline phase to be rutile type. This study successfully obtained particles with diverse morphologies and examined the synthesis of TiO2 for use in the fields of photocatalystitic application.

References

[1] D. Nunes, et al. Catalysts 2021, 11, 504.

[2] V. Swamy, J.D. Gale, L.S. Dubrovinsky. J Phys Chem Solids 2001, 887-895.

[3] H. Cui. et al. Adv. Mater. 2008, 20, 65–68.

[4] J.H. Leal. Et al. Inorg Chem Commun. 2017, 84, 28-32.