SUSPENSION STABILITY OF TITANIA NANOPARTICLES STUDIED BY UV-VIS SPECTROSCOPY METHOD

Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy was used, in the current investigation, to explore the dispersion and stability of titania nanoparticles in an aqueous media with different types of dispersants. Hydrochloric and nitric acids as well as ammonia were used to determine the stability of the suspension in the acidic region (pH=2.5) and basic area (pH=9.5), respectively. In addition, for measuring sustainability of suspension and creating steric, and electrosteric repulsive forces, ethylene glycol and ethylene glycol plus ammonia were employed, respectively. UV–V is spectrometry was applied to realize the effect of nano titania concentrations and different types of dispersants of samples containing different amounts of nano titania and different types of dispersants on stability of TiO2-containing suspensions. In addition, the stability of dispersion could be evaluated in colloidal mixtures containing ethylene glycol plus ammonia. It was demonstrated that the mixtures containing ethylene glycol plus ammonia were stable over a period of 4 days. To support the UV–Vis results, other techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to study the degree of agglomeration of titania nanoparticles in terms of morphology and size.