The objective of this work was to synthesize silver (Ag) decorated flower-like (FL) titania (TiO2) nanoparticles and incorporate them into epoxy. The motivation was to increase the matrix-filler interlocking by FL morphology, so that mechanical durability of the surface could be preserved while photocatalytic capability was introduced to the polymer. FLTiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by solvothermal reaction at 180 °C, for 4 h. Ag-decoration was performed by a simple solution-mixing approach using silver nitrate. 4 wt.% reinforced FLTiO2/epoxy composites were prepared w/o Ag-decoration. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning/transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), gas adsorption (N2), Fourier-transform (FT) infrared (IR) and UV–visible spectroscopies were used to characterize the phases, morphology, surface, chemical and optical structure of the nanoparticles. Nanoparticles were composed of rutile (71%) and anatase (29%) phases and exhibited a mesoporous structure with an indirect band gap of 2.90 eV. Analysis of the nanocomposites indicated that FLTiO2 nanoparticles formed Ti–O–C linkages with epoxy at the interface and enhanced mechanical/chemical interlocking resulted in 13-fold increase in microhardness. Water sorption (WS) was not significantly affected by FLTiO2 reinforcement, but Ag-decoration increased the WS. FLTiO2/epoxy nanocomposites exhibited photocatalytic performance up to 48 h, w/o Ag-decoration. Ag-decoration enhanced the degradation rate. Each nanocomposite was reusable and was still photo-active after 3 cycles. In the overall, considering the well-known antimicrobial behavior of Ag, the synergic effect of Ag with FLTiO2 in epoxy can provide durable alternatives which require microbe/pollutant resistance in public environments.

中文翻译：

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用银装饰的花状 TiO2 纳米粒子增强环氧树脂：结构和光催化性能

这项工作的目的是合成银 (Ag) 装饰的花状 (FL) 二氧化钛 (TiO2) 纳米粒子并将它们掺入环氧树脂中。其动机是通过 FL 形态增加基质 - 填料的互锁，以便在将光催化能力引入聚合物的同时保持表面的机械耐久性。FLTiO2 纳米粒子是通过溶剂热反应在 180°C 下合成 4 小时的。使用硝酸银通过简单的溶液混合方法进行银装饰。4 wt.% 增强的 FLTiO2/环氧树脂复合材料是在没有银装饰的情况下制备的。X 射线衍射 (XRD)、扫描/透射电子显微镜 (SEM、TEM)、气体吸附 (N2)、傅立叶变换 (FT)、红外 (IR) 和紫外-可见光谱用于表征物相、形貌、表面, 纳米粒子的化学和光学结构。纳米颗粒由金红石 (71%) 和锐钛矿 (29%) 相组成，并表现出间接带隙为 2.90 eV 的介孔结构。纳米复合材料的分析表明，FLTiO2 纳米粒子在界面处与环氧树脂形成 Ti-O-C 键，增强的机械/化学联锁导致显微硬度增加 13 倍。水吸附（WS）不受 FLTiO2 增强的显着影响，但银装饰增加了 WS。FLTiO2/环氧树脂纳米复合材料表现出长达48小时的光催化性能，无银装饰。银装饰提高了降解率。每个纳米复合材料都是可重复使用的，并且在 3 个循环后仍然具有光活性。总的来说，考虑到 Ag 众所周知的抗菌行为，