Study on the Agglomerate Structures of TiO2 Nanoparticles

The short duration of high temperature and high pressure during the detonation process made the TiO2 nanoparticles not have enough time to grow into large and fine crystallites and only generate a large number of spherical-like nanoparticles. The rapid interactions between these formed TiO2 nanoparticles (such as collision, friction, extrusion, infiltration and adhesion) could easily form agglomerate structures in the humid detonation gas environment. The agglomerate structures and dispersion morphologies of the TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by detonation method using titanium titanyl sulfate as TiO2 source were studied. In order to reveal the influence of heat treatment on the agglomeration properties of the TiO2 nanoparticles, the agglomerate structures of the TiO2 nanoparticles via heat treatment at 500 ℃ for 1 h were also analyzed. Research showed that the soft and hard agglomerates of the TiO2 nanoparticles were formed and that the agglomerate structures of the TiO2 nanoparticles after heat treatment could be improved to some extent. The influences of nanoparticle characteristics, detonation characteristics and detonation gas environment on the formation of the agglomerate structures of TiO2 nanoparticles were also discussed.