Mechanochemical surface modification of nano-Sb₂O₃ particles with a cationic surfactant

Abstract

Nano-sized Sb₂O₃ particles were prepared and modified by high-energy ball milling (HEBM) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and the modification and dispersion mechanism were discussed. The surface properties, morphologies, and dispersion stability of nano-Sb₂O₃ particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV absorbance, contact angle (CA), zeta potential measurement, and water adsorption measurement, respectively. The results showed that the nano-Sb₂O₃ particles prepared by HEBM arrived to an average particle size of 22.1 nm and exhibited a good dispersion stability in water system when the CTAB’s concentration arrived to 15 wt.%. After being modified by CTAB, the long alkyl chains of CTAB were successfully grafted onto the surface of nano-Sb₂O₃ particles and the surface characteristics of modified nano-Sb₂O₃ particles exhibited more hydrophobic than those of unmodified nano-Sb₂O₃ particles.

Keywords:

• HEBM
• CTAB
• surface modification
• dispersion stability

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by Principal’s Fund of Hexi University (XZ2018013).