Fabrication of Silica–Titanium Composite Film on Wood Surface and Optimization of Its Structure and Properties

oleh: Zhigao Liu, Qianying Li, Si Cheng, Penglian Wei, Yunlin Fu

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-08-01

Deskripsi

In this thesis, wood loaded with a silica–titanium (Si-Ti) composite film was prepared using the sol–gel method in order to achieve improved wood with high hydrophobicity and photocatalytic activity under visible light. The factors affecting the structure and properties of the composite film, as well as the optimization process, were discussed. Infrared analysis revealed that the vibrational intensity of Si-O-Si, Ti-O-Ti, and Ti-O-Si telescopic vibration peaks increased with an increase in vinyltriethoxysilane (VETS). Additionally, the number of Ti-O-Ti telescopic vibration peaks also increased with an increase in VETS. Furthermore, the intensity of -NO<sub>3</sub>, Si-O-Si, and Ti-O-Ti telescopic vibrational peaks was enhanced with a higher dosage of nitric acid. Conversely, the intensity of -OH telescopic vibrational peaks decreased with an increase in drying temperature. XRD analysis showed that nitric acid could promote the transformation of TiO<sub>2</sub> from amorphous to anatase, while SiO<sub>2</sub> would reduce the grain size of anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> and promote the growth of rutile TiO<sub>2</sub>. Additionally, wood surfaces loaded with Si-Ti composite film changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, with significant differences observed between different levels of each factor. The photocatalytic activity of surface-loaded Si-Ti composite films on wood was most affected by the amount of nitric acid, which influenced crystallinity of TiO<sub>2</sub> and thus impacted the photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, changes in VTES dosage not only affected the crystalline phase of TiO<sub>2</sub> and the grain size of Si-Ti composite film but also influenced the crystallinity of TiO<sub>2</sub> through generating SiO<sub>2</sub>. Finally, based on optimal preparation process (titanium–alcohol ratio of 1:5, titanium–silicon ratio of 1:0.2, titanium–acid ratio of 1:0.5, and drying temperature of 100 °C), wood surfaces loaded with Si-Ti composite film achieved a contact angle up to 125.9° and exhibited a decolorization rate for rhodamine B under UV light reaching 94% within 180 min.