Titanium Oxide Modification of Silicon Oxycarbide

Abstract

In this work, a titanium oxide-modified silicon oxycarbide composite was synthesized. A combined mechanical treatment by deposition of TiO₂ on the surface of white soot and activated carbon was used. The fixation of titanium oxide was confirmed by elemental analysis data. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the size of the deposited particles did not exceed 100 nm. The structure of the obtained materials was studied by x-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy. It was shown that the silicon oxycarbide composite has a high degree of amorphism; the diffraction pattern contains peaks characteristic of reflections from anatase planes. The IR spectra contain bands corresponding to vibrations of the Ti–O–Ti and Ti–O–C bonds. The porosity of the synthesized samples was investigated by low temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption. It was found that the composite has a sufficiently developed porous structure with a predominance of meso- and macro pores. The material is proposed to be used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of organic compounds in cleaning processes.