Colloidal Stability and Aggregation Mechanism in Aqueous Suspensions of TiO2 Nanoparticles Prepared by Sol–Gel Synthesis

Understanding the colloidal stability and aggregation behavior of TiO₂ nanoparticles in aqueous suspension is a prerequisite to tune supracolloidal structure formation. While the aggregation mechanism for dried TiO₂ nanopowders is well documented, there is still work to be done to understand TiO₂ nanoparticle aggregation in suspension. Therefore, this work focuses on the colloidal stability and aggregation mechanism of TiO₂ nanoparticle aqueous suspensions prepared using a straightforward one-step sol-gel-based approach over a concentration range of 0.5-5 wt %. Fully crystalline nanoparticles consisting primarily of anatase were obtained. After assessing the colloidal stability of the as-prepared suspensions, small-angle X-ray scattering coupled with fractal analysis was carried out. This analysis showed, for the first time, how the TiO₂ nanoparticle aggregation mechanism─predicted by the diffusion limited cluster-cluster aggregation (DLCA) and diffusion limited particle-cluster aggregation (DLA) theories─depends directly on the starting concentration in the aqueous suspensions. We found that concentrated suspensions favored DLA, while dilute suspensions tend to follow the DLCA mechanism. The effect of the aggregation mechanism on the aggregate shape is also discussed.