The influence of admixtures on the course of hydrolysis of titanyl sulfate

The study focused on the question how admixtures, such as iron(II), iron(III), magnesium and aluminium salts influence the degree of TiOSO₄ conversion to hydrated titanium dioxide (HTD). Titanyl sulfate solution, an intermediate product in the industrial preparation of titanium dioxide pigments by sulfate route was used. The admixtures were added to the solution and their concentration was gradually changed. It was found that hydrolysis clearly depended on Fe(II) and Fe(III) concentrations. The higher the concentration of iron(II) (up to 5 wt %) in the solution was, the higher conversion degree was achieved. A reverse relationship was observed concerning the influence of iron(III) introduced up to 1.5 wt %. The constant rates of both phases of titanyl sulfate hydrolysis (including the formation of an intermediate colloidal TiO₂ and final products) depended on iron(II) and iron(III) content in the solution. The concentration of other constituents did not influence hydrolysis in the investigated part of the process (up to 2.6 wt % of Mg and up to 0.3 wt % of Al). However, the size of primary particles of the obtained TiO₂·nH₂O did not depend on the content of the above-mentioned constituents in the solution.