Anatase TiO2 white pigment production from unenriched industrial titanyl sulfate solution via short sulfate process

Using unenriched industrial titanyl sulfate solution as titanium source, short sulfate process was proposed for TiO2 white pigment production in order to lower the cost, reduce the energy consumption and shorten the sulfate process. Herein, anatase TiO2 white pigment was prepared by self-generating seeded thermal hydrolysis route from unenriched TiOSO4 solution. The effects of the pre-adding water volume ratio, the F value and the aging time were investigated on the structure and pigment properties of the as-prepared samples. The samples were characterized by XRD, particle size distribution. SEM and pigment properties tests. And these factors influenced the number and quality of hydrolysis nuclei, hydrolysis velocity, crystal growth rate and particles aggregation, eventually determined the structure and pigment properties of TiO2. The optimized pre-adding water volume ratio was of 0.17:1, the F value was of 1.93 and the aging time after gray point was of 21-31 min, and the prepared TiO2 pigment was with anatase phase, narrow particle size distribution and excellent pigment properties. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.