Innovative one-step immobilization of TiO₂ on polymer material by the sol–gel method under IL/MW conditions

An innovative one-step immobilization of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nano-particles on organic polymer (PMMA) substrate at ambient condition is reported in this article. This immobilization can be achieved by the sol–gel method under ionic liquid/microwave heating conditions. In this method, a sol–gel reaction is conducted at specific sites of the polymer surface. These sites are the tiny cavities of the rough surface resulting from the softening and swelling effect of an alcohol, such as isopropyl alcohol, on the polymer surface under microwave irradiation. The roughness of the polymer surface is an important factor for the effective immobilization. In addition, ionic liquid can induce low temperature surface anatase crystallization of immobilized titanium dioxide in a short time. From the field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy observation, the TiO₂ particles could be effectively immobilized on the PMMA substrate. Raman spectra analysis data showed that the immobilized TiO₂ was anatase phase. The experimental data also shows that the immobilized TiO₂ prepared by this novel method has good immobilization stability and photocatalytic water treatment performance.