Preparation and characterization of silica-coated TiO2 nanoparticle

In recent years, TiO2 nanoparticle complex has been increasingly utilized in sun care products because of its UV-ray shielding performance and chemical stability. TiO2 nanoparticles from Degussa (P-25) were used as a seed for SiO2 coating using TEOS. A SiO2-coated TiO2 nanoparticle was prepared by a sol–gel process. The high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), FT-IR, energy dispersion spectrum (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses showed that the surface of TiO2 particles was evenly coated by amorphous SiO2 layer with 10–15 nm thickness. Coated particles were measured with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) to know the heat treatment effect on crystal structure of SiO2 layer and TiO2 seed.