Synthesis of Monodisperse Silica Nanospheres and Titania Beads from Rotating Cylinder System

Abstract

Economic raw materials such as low-grade ethanol and Tetraethyl Ortosilicate (TEOS) were adopted as reactants for the synthesis of monodisperse silica nanospheres using a Taylor Vortex flow reactor with a rotating cylinder system. Factors affecting the mean diameter and size distribution of the silica grains were investigated by changing the rotating speed of the inner cylinder and the composition of reactants. In the case of titania beads, grain diameter size was adjusted by changing the amount of precursor (titanium (IV) isopropoxide, TIP), hexadecylamine (HDA) or Potassium Chloride (KCl) and reaction temperature as well as the rotation speed of the cylinder. As a demonstrative application, titania beads could be used for the removal of organic dye as a model contaminant dissolved in an aqueous medium using a photocatalytic decomposition system.