Effect of molar ratio of TiO2/SiO2 on the properties of particles synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis

Titania (TiO2)–silica (SiO2) nanoparticles were synthesized from sprayed droplets of a mixture of TEOS and TTIP by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP). The effect of molar ratio between TEOS and TTIP in the mixture on the particle properties such as particle morphology, average particle diameter, specific surface area, crystal structure, etc., were determined using TEM, XRD, BET, and FT-IR. A UV-spectrometer was also used to measure the absorption spectrum and the band gap energy of the product particles. As the molar ratio of TEOS/TTIP increased by increasing TEOS concentration at the fixed TTIP concentration, the average particle diameter of the mixed oxide nanoparticles increased with maintaining uniform dispersion between TiO2 and SiO2, and crystal structure was transformed from anatase to amorphous. The band gap energy of the TiO2–SiO2 nanoparticles increased with respect to the increase of the molar ratio due to the decrease of width of UV-absorption spectrum. Photocatalytic activity of TiO2–SiO2 composite particles decreased with the concentration of TEOS.