Abstract
Influences of drying and nondrying steps on structures of layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled sodium silicate/TiO 2 nanoparticles films (donated as silicate/TiO 2 films) have been systematically investigated. The nondrying LbL assembly produces highly porous silicate/TiO 2 films with large thickness. In contrast, the silicate/TiO 2 films fabricated with a drying step after each layer deposition are flat and thin without porous structures. In situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements confirm that the sodium silicate and TiO 2 nanoparticles are deposited in their aggregated forms. A N 2 drying step can disintegrate the aggregated silicate and TiO 2 nanoparticles to produce thin silicate/TiO 2 films with compact structures. Without the drying steps, the aggregated silicate and TiO 2 nanoparticles are well retained, and their LbL assembly produces highly porous silicate/TiO 2 films of large thickness. The highly porous silicate/TiO 2 films are demonstrated to be useful as reusable film adsorbents for dye removal from wastewater because they can adsorb a large amount of cationic organic dyes and decompose them under UV irradiation. The present study is meaningful for exploring drying/nondrying steps for tailoring structure and functions of LbL assembled films.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1816-1823 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | LANGMUIR |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 24 2012 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Spectroscopy
- Electrochemistry