Coating of expanded polystyrene spheres by TiO2 and SiO2–TiO2 thin films

Abstract

AbstractExpanded polystyrene spheres (EPS) were coated by SiO2–TiO2 or TiO2 for application as a fluidized bed in the photocatalytic reactor. Silica coating was realized by the sol–gel process carried out in a vacuum evaporator at 60–70 °C. The most uniform and thin layer of silica coating was obtained by the Stöber method based on the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) catalysed by an ammonia solution. Effective TiO2 coating was obtained by the immersion of EPS in the titania aqueous suspension and evaporation of water in a vacuum evaporator. Heating of EPS spheres coated by SiO2, TiO2 or SiO2–TiO2 at the temperatures of 120–140 °C resulted in a shrinkage of their volume. For the thick layer coating, a strong corrugation of EPS surface was observed. The photocatalytic tests showed, that highly corrugated surface of coated EPS slowed down ethylene decomposition, whereas a thin layer coating of both, SiO2 and TiO2 was advantageous. Graphical abstract