21. 23. 9.

2011, Brno, Czech Republic, EU

RAMAN STUDY OF CLAY/TiO
2
COMPOSITES
Pavlna PEIKERTOV
a
, Silvie REBILASOV
a
, Kamila GRPLOV
a
, Lucie NEUWIRTHOV
a
,
Jana KUKUTSCHOV
a
, Vlastimil MATJKA
a

a
NANOTECHNOLOGY CENTRE, VB - TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVA, 17.listopadu 15, 708 33
Ostrava - Poruba, Czech Republic, [email protected]
Abstract
Isolated nanoparticles are generally known to have negative impact on living organisms. Some types of
engineered nanoparticles, e.g. titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO
2
), show photocatalytic activity after UV
light exposure and if they are tightly anchored to suitable type of matrix, they demonstrate their
photodegradable properties together with lower environmental risk due to decreased mobility of
nanoparticles. TiO
2
nanoparticles are able to eliminate organic pollutants from air, as well as from waste
water, however the photocatalytic properties are highly influenced by parameters such as particle size and
phase modifications. TiO
2
occurs in three basic phase modifications, anatase, brookite and rutile. The
anatase modification shows the highest photoactivity after UV light exposure compared to the other forms of
TiO
2
.
The work deals with study of two clay composites bentonite/TiO
2
(BETI) and vermiculite/TiO
2
(VETI). These
composites were prepared with different content of TiO
2
were calcined at different temperatures and for
different time. Therefore, the effects of temperature, as well as time on transformation of anatase to rutile
were studied. Both types of the composites were studied by Raman microspectroscopy, which shown that
VETI composite is more stable for anatase phase as well as that larger content of TiO
2
allows higher
conversion to rutile phase.
Keywords: Raman microspectroscopy, bentonite, vermiculite, titanium dioxide, composite
1. INTRODUCTION
TiO
2
is widely studied because of its promising applications in many fields including photovoltaic cells,
electronic devices, sensors, etc. Photocatalysis is the main application of TiO
2
, especially degradation of
environmental contaminants. Its importance as photocatalyst is related to its low cost, reduced toxicity and
high chemical stability [1]. TiO
2
occurs in three basic modifications, i.e. anatase, rutile and brookite. Rutile is
the most stable form, whereas anatase and brookite are metastable and could be transformed to rutile by
calcination. Temperature of the phase transition is highly dependent on conditions of the TiO
2
preparation.
Pure brookite without rutile and anatase is very difficult to prepare [2]. Many papers have studied the
photocatalytic application of TiO
2
and it is generally accepted that anatase is more efficient as photocatalyst
than rutile or brookite [3].
Although nanoparticles may be potentially very useful, they may also pose a risk to the environment and to
the living organisms. They are capable of entering the biogeochemical cycles and to the food chain finally.
Due to the fact, it is desirable to prepare anchored nanoparticles to the suitable type of matrix. Phyllosilicates
have been found as a suitable matrix, because clays are abundant natural materials with a wide scale of
practical applications. Impregnation of clays with TiO
2
shows thermal stability and larger pore sizes [4-6].
The work is focused to two selected clay minerals: bentonite and vermiculite.
The composites were prepared with different content of TiO
2
and effects of temperature, as well as time on
transformation of anatase to rutile have been studied. Nanocomposites were studied by Raman
spectroscopy, which may provides information about molecular vibrations, which are specific to the chemical
bonds and symmetry of molecules. Such kind of information can be used for sample identification as well as
to determine the phase composition.
21. 23. 9. 2011, Brno, Czech Republic, EU



2. EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Sample preparation
Samples were prepared form vermiculite Letovice (Czech Republic) and from bentonite Ankerpoort NV
(Maastricht, Netherland). Titanyl sulfate (TiOSO
4
) was obtained from Precheza a.s Perov (Czech Republic)
and contains 102 g of TiO2 in 1 liter of suspension. 30 g of appropriate clay matrix was mixed with
appropriate volume of TiOSO
4
to give the desired amount of TiO
2
in the final composite.

This suspension
was treated by shaking for 24 hours in vertical shaker at room temperature. After 24 hours the mixture was
heated to 80C and the suspension was stirred for 5 hours. After hydrolysis using 150 ml of distilled water,
which lasted for 90 min, the solid phase was left to settle and decant. After rinsing with distilled water for
several times the conductivity of supernatant liquor was less than 5 mS/cm
-2
.
The prepared composites BETI and VETI were dried at 105C and then calcined at 400, 600, 800 and
1000C for 1 hour. The BETI composite with 20 wt.% TiO
2
was calcined for 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours at
temperature 800C. The prepared samples were assigned as follow: BETI12, VETI12 for composite dried to
105C with 20 wt.% TiO
2
- BETI15 for composite with 50 wt.% TiO
2
and dried at 105C. BETI (VETI) 4x, 6x,
8x and 10x indicates calcination temperature 400, 600, 800 and 1000C, x means the TIO
2
content: 2...
20 wt.% of TiO
2
, 5 ... 50 wt.% of TiO
2
.
2.2 X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
Phase composition of samples BETI12, BETI15 and VETI12 was determined using XRFS SPECTRO
XEPOS (SPECTRO Analytical Instruments, Germany) equipped with 50 W Pd X-ray tube. The samples were
prepared in the form of fused discs.
2.3 Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectra of all samples were measured using a Smart Raman Microscopy System XploRA
TM
(HORIBA Jobin Yvon, France). Raman spectra were acquired with 532 nm excitation laser source, 50x
objective and using 1800 gr./mm grating in the range from 80 to 4000 cm
-1
.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The chemical compositions of BETI12, BETI 15 and VETI12 are shown in Table 1. The chemical analysis
revealed low yield of the proposed synthesis procedure, which has to be modified for applications in common
practice.
Table 1 Phase composition of prepared composites (LOI - loss on ignition).
Sample
Parameter
BETI12 BETI15 VETI12
Sample
Parameter
BETI12 BETI15 VETI12
Na
2
O (wt.%) 0,931 0,617 0,863 K
2
O (wt.%) 0,354 0,210 0,015
MgO (wt.%) 2,232 1,346 10,99 CaO (wt.%) 0,285 0,281 0,070
Al
2
O
3
(wt.%) 13,95 8,840 7,222 TiO
2
(wt.%) 18,28 35,06 13,66
SiO
2
(wt.%) 46,29 26,95 40,35 MnO (wt.%) 0,010 0,002 0,044
P
2
O
5
(wt.%) <0,0012 <0,0012 <0,0012 Fe
2
O
3
(wt.%) 2,298 1,385 4,912
SO
3
(wt.%) 3,675 7,412 3,875 LOI (%) 10,7 16,9 17,0
Raman spectra of the BETI12 composite shows only one characteristic band of anatase at position 161 cm
-1
[7]. Its intensity in spectrum of BETI12 is much lower than intensities of the same band detected for other
calcined BETI composites (see Fig. 1). Other three characteristic bands were not detected, due to the
fluorescence background of the bentonite [8]. At spectrum of BETI42 fluorescence of the clay is still
detectable, but all the characteristic bands are clearly visible at positions 156, 400, 520 and 642 cm
-1
. Rutile
phase appears at spectrum of BETI102, which was confirmed by bands at positions 247, 450 and 617 cm
-1
21. 23. 9. 2011, Brno, Czech Republic, EU



[7]. Phase transformation was not complete because all anatase bands are still detectable. Small shift of
anatase band at position 149-156 cm
-1
is noticeable.
wavenumber [cm
-1
]
200 400 600 800 1000 100 120 140 160 180
BETI 12
BETI 42
BETI 62
BETI 82
BETI 102
161
156
149
151
247
400
450
520
617
642

Fig. 1 Raman spectra of the BETI composite with 20 wt.% of TiO
2
calcined at different temperatures.
Fluorescence is less noticeable for BETI15 composite, which may be due to higher content of TiO
2
(see Fig.
2). All anatase characteristic bands are seen at all spectra of BETI composites at positions 148-158, 400,
519 and 642 cm
-1
. Transformation of rutile phase is confirmed in spectra of BETI105. Rutile characteristic
bands are at positions 245, 449 and 614 cm
-1
. However anatase is still present what shows only one band at
149 cm
-1
, but the intensity is lower, what indicates small content of anatase phase.
wavenumber [cm
-1
]
200 400 600 800 1000
BETI 15
BETI 45
BETI 65
BETI 85
BETI 105
100 120 140 160 180
158
149
155
148
245
449

614
400 519
642

Fig. 2 Raman spectra of the BETI composite with 50 wt.% of TiO
2
calcined at different temperature.
Raman spectra of VETI composites have higher noise than spectra of BETI composites (see Fig. 3.), which
may be caused by higher fluorescence background of vermiculite and lower content of TiO
2
. All characteristic
anatase bands are again detectable at positions 148-168, 397, 520 and 644 cm
-1
. Small content of TiO
2

caused less transformation to rutile phase, which confirmed spectrum of VETI102. Only band at 250 cm
-1
,
which is one of the characteristic bands of rutile, was detected.
21. 23. 9. 2011, Brno, Czech Republic, EU



wavenumber [cm
-1
]
200 400 600 800 1000
VETI 12
VETI 42
VETI 62
VETI 82
VETI 102
100 120 140 160 180
168
166
156
150
148
250
397
520
644

Fig. 3 Raman spectra of the VETI composite with 20 wt.% of TiO
2
calcined at different temperatures.
Composite BETI85 was calcined for 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours. But even 3 hours of calcination did not cause
transformation to the rutile phase (see Fig.4). Therefore all the Raman spectra of BETI85 were observed to
have only characteristic anatase bands at positions 148 (151), 400, 520 and 644 cm
-1
.
wavenumber [cm
-1
]
400 600 800 1000
0.5 hour
1 hour
2 hours
3 hours
100 120 140 160 180 200
151
148 400
520
644

Fig. 4 Raman spectra of the BETI85 composite calcined for different time (0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours).
4. CONCLUSIONS
- From the measured Raman spectra it is evident that the rutile transformation at VETI composite is
restricted in comparison to BETI composite.
- Higher content of TiO
2
caused less fluorescence background of the clays presented at the composites.
- The larger content of TiO
2
is favorable for the higher conversion to rutile phase, which was confirmed
by spectra of BETI102 and BETI105 composites.
- Longer time of calcination of BETI 15 at 800C have no effect on transformation of anatase to rutile.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research has been funded by the project SP/201186 and MSM 6198910016.
21. 23. 9. 2011, Brno, Czech Republic, EU



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