The effect of surface modification with silane coupling agent on suppressing the photo-catalytic activity of fine TiO2 particles as inorganic UV filter

The effect of surface modification with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and n-propyltriethoxysilane (PTES) on photo-catalytic activity and UV-shielding ability of fine TiO2 particles were investigated. The number of surface groups (NR) [nm−2] which shows the density of modifier on TiO2 surface was calculated from the results of elemental analysis and BET measurement. The modified samples of which NR are different were obtained by changing the concentration of modifier. When the photo-catalytic activity and UV-shielding ability of modified samples were evaluated, it was found that APTES was more effective modifier than PTES to obtained samples with low photo-catalytic activity and high UV-shielding ability. This is probably because the adsorption mechanisms on TiO2 surface between modifiers were different and NR is a key factor to control the performances of fine TiO2 particles. The result of zeta potential showed that surface character of modified samples was varied by changing NR. It suggested from these results that NR affected the photo-catalytic activity and UV-shielding ability because NR changed surface character of modified samples.