Formation of hydrated titanium dioxide from seeded titanyl sulphate solution

The paper analyses the influence of various kinds and amounts of titanium dioxide nuclei addition to a solution of titanyl sulphate on the conversion degree of TiOSO(4) to hydrated titanium dioxide and sulphuric acid. An industrial solution of titanyl sulphate used to produce titanium white was used in the present investigations. It was found that the course of hydrolysis clearly depended on the investigated parameters. The anatase nuclei calcined at 373 K and 333 K and rutile nuclei increased the degree of titanyl sulphate hydrolysis as compared to non-nucleation hydrolysis. The final degree of hydrolysis was by 1-2 % higher than that achieved without any nuclei addition. The constant rates of both colloidal intermediate and final crystalline products formation were higher in the hydrolysis process with both anatase nuclei after heat treatment at lower temperature and rutile nuclei in comparison to the same processes conducted in the absence of these nuclei. (C) 2008 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences