Synthesis and Characterization of Nano TiO2 with Sol-Gel Method as Self-Cleaning Agent on Acrylic Paint

Metal oxide TiO2 has photocatalytic properties that make TiO2 amphilic, that is, hydrophobic in the dark (without UV light) and hydrophilic in the light (there is UV light). The photocatalytic properties of TiO2 can be utilized to develop self-cleaning materials in paints. Self-cleaning material is a material capable of cleaning itself both by avoiding it and by degrading the dirt that clings to it with the help of UV rays. The TiO2 nano particle synthesis process uses the sol-gel method with the precursor tetrabuthyl titanate (TBT). The purpose of this research is to synthesize TiO2 nano particles as self-cleaning material in paint with the most appropriate composition. The results obtained from the synthesis of nano TiO2 particles were tested by FTIR and appeared at a peak of 467.50 cm-1 indicating the presence of TiO2 groups. In addition, characterization using XRD was also produced which produced the anatase crystalline phase of TiO2 with a crystal size of 24.32 nm. Surface morphology was analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The ability of selfcleaning properties in paint was measured through hydrophobic properties through contact angle measurements and the best contact angle values obtained on TiO2 / paint (2: 8) were 102.2o. Keywords— nano TiO2, sol-gel, self-cleaning, hidrofobic