Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol.230, No.2, 396-409, 2000
Highly dispersed X/SiO2 and C/X/SiO2 (X = alumina, titania, alumina/titania) in the gas and liquid media
Fumed oxides, such as silica, alumina, titania, and mixed XI silicas (X = Al2O3 (AS), TiO2 (TS), CVD-TiO2, Al2O3/TiO2 (AST)), pristine or covered by carbon deposits formed due to pyrolysis of cyclohexene, were studied using nitrogen adsorption-desorption, photon correlation spectroscopy particle sizing, and electrophoresis. A significant influence of the nature of surface-active sites and structural features of oxides (individual silica, mixed fumed, or prepared using chemical vapor deposition (CVD)) on the pyrolysis of cyclohexene is observed with respect to the pore size distributions due to differences between primary particles in aggregates and on their outer surfaces in the filling of channels by pyrocarbon, resulting also in a decrease in fractal dimension. Structural characteristics and dependences of the particle size distribution and electrokinetic potential of X/SiO2 and C/X/SiO2 on the pH of aqueous suspensions suggest that the carbon deposit covers mainly acidic sites at the X/SiO2 interfaces and X phase patches possessing catalytic activity in pyrolysis, as the negative charge of particles is reduced by pyrocarbon grafting,
Keywords:fumed silica;fumed titania/silica;fumed alumina/silica;fumed alumina/silica/titania;carbon/silica;carbon/alumina/silica;carbon/titanua/silica;pore size distribution;fractal dimension distribution;aqueous suspension;particle size distribution;zeta potential