Precipitation Kinetics of the Titanium Isopropoxide Hydrolysis Reaction

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe precipitation product of the titanium isopropoxide (TiPT) hydrolysis reaction was followed using photon correlation spectroscopy. This technique followed the mean size of the precipitate as the reaction progressed, as well as giving an indication of the number of particles being produced. From this analysis, the induction time for the onset of nucleation, nucleation rate (or the rate of particle production) and mean growth rate were correlated with reactant concentrations. In the concentration ranges studied, it was found that the induction time was a very strong inverse function of the reactant concentrations. Both nucleation rate and average growth rate were found to increase very rapidly as reactant concentration increased, with the TiPT concentration being more important. This reaction was also followed using absorbance spectrophotometry in the 500 to 320 nm range. After mixing of the reactants, an absorbance peak was seen between 330 and 335 nm, depending on the conditions. This peak increased slowly during the induction period and then increased rapidly after the onset of nucleation due to the increasing turbidity.