Deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles in surfactant-containing aqueous suspension by a pulsed DC charging-mode electrophoresis

A pulse electrophoresis method was designed for depositing TiO2 nanoparticles on a metal substrate inside an aqueous suspension. The suspension was prepared by mixing the commercially available nanometer-sized TiO2 powders (P25, Degussa) with an organic surfactant in water. A suspension with relatively high concentration (30 wt%) is stable for a few months; therefore it was not necessary to place an additional mixing during the deposition process. In the range of 2.5 to 40 Hz, the pulse direct current (PDC) charging type electrophoretic with a maximum applied voltage of 54 V (50% duty cycle) could narrow the particle size distribution or dispersity of TiO2 particles depositing on the surface of a stainless steel electrode. The morphology of the TiO2 nanoparticles layer deposited by PDC charging-mode was finer than those was deposited by a direct current (DC) charging mode. (C) 2009 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All fights reserved.