Flame-Hydrolytically Produced Titanium Dioxide Mixed Oxide Method of Its Production and Its Use

The present invention relates to a flame-hydrolytically produced titanium dioxide mixed oxide, a method of its production and its use.

It is known that titanium dioxide mixed oxide can be produced hydrolytically in the gaseous phase. Thus, published German Patent Application DE-A 9 52 891 describes a method of producing mixed oxides of aluminum and titanium or of titanium and silicon in which the temperature is maintained in the range between 250.degree. and 650.degree. C.

Published German Patent Application DE-A 29 31 810 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,143) describes a flame-hydrolytically produced silicon dioxide--titanium dioxide mixed oxide containing 99.9 to 91.1% by weight silicon dioxide and 0.1 to 9.9% by weight titanium dioxide.

Published German Patent Application DE-A 36 11 449 describes a flame-hydrolytically produced aluminum oxide--titanium oxide mixed oxide containing 56% by weight aluminum oxide and 44% by weight titanium dioxide.

The present invention provides a flame-hydrolytically produced titanium dioxide mixed oxide with a BET surface of 10 to 150 m.sup.2 /g which contains 1 to 30% by weight aluminum oxide or 1 to 30% by weight silicon dioxide as a component of the mixed oxide.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the titanium dioxide mixed oxide can have the following physicochemical properties:

The invention also provides a method of producing a flame-hydrolytically produced titanium dioxide mixed oxide in which anhydrous aluminum chloride or silicon tetrachloride is evaporated, transferred together with an inert gas, e.g. nitrogen, into the mixing chamber of a conventional burner, mixed in the burner with hydrogen, air and gaseous titanium tetrachloride in such proportions that the correspondingly composed desired Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 /TiO.sub.2 mixed oxide or SiO.sub.2 /TiO.sub.2 mixed oxide results, the 4-component mixture is burned in a reaction chamber, then the solid titanium oxide mixed oxide is separated from the gaseous reaction products and freed, if necessary, in moist air from adhering hydrogen chloride.

The flame-hydrolytic conversion of the invention can be carried out at temperatures of 1,000.degree. to 3,000.degree. C.

The titanium dioxide mixed oxide of the invention can be used for the production of catalysts, catalytic carriers, photocatalysts, ceramics, automobile paints and cosmetic articles (especially as UV absorbers in sunscreen agents) and as heat stabilizers in silicone rubbers.

The titanium dioxide mixed oxide of the invention advantageously has a rather high temperature resistance of the surface. It is fine, very homogenous, very pure and highly dispersible.

The invention is illustrated by the following examples:

AlCl.sub.3 and TiCl.sub.4 or SiCl.sub.4 and TiCl.sub.4 are volatilized in two separate evaporators (evaporator temperatures: AlCl.sub.3 250.degree. C., SiCl.sub.4 100.degree. C., TiCl.sub.4 200.degree. C.) and the chloride vapors conducted by means of nitrogen into the mixing chamber of a burner. There, they are mixed with hydrogen and dried air and/or oxygen and burned in a reaction chamber. The reaction products are cooled in the coagulation zone to approximately 110.degree. C. The mixed oxides are subsequently separated with a filter. Adhering chloride is removed by treating the powder with moist air at a temperature between 500.degree. and 700.degree. C.

Tables 1 and 2 list the reaction conditions and the product properties for various mixed oxides.

Temperature resistance of the specific surface

The specific surface of mixed oxides 4 and 9 was determined, by way of example, after calcination at temperatures between 500.degree. and 800.degree. C. The residence time was 4 hours in each instance. Undoped pyrogenic titanium oxide P 25 (BET 50 m.sup.2 /g) was used as reference material. The results are shown in FIG. 1.

The specific surface of P 25 breaks in sharply after 600.degree. C.

The doping with aluminum oxide yields a material with a distinctly more stable surface (800.degree. C.: 30 m.sup.2 /g instead of 12 m.sup.2 /g in the case of P 25).

The addition of silicon dioxide yields a powder whose surface is stable over the tested temperature range.

The novel materials can be used at high temperatures and are therefore especially suitable for the production of catalysts and catalytic carriers.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the Temperature Stability of the specific surface; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a burner which can be used to carry out the process of the present invention.

In carrying out the invention in the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the gas-forming metal chlorides, i.e., titanium tetrachloride and aluminum chloride or silicon tetrachloride, are introduced with an inert gas through the inlets 4 and 5 into the mixing chamber 8. Hydrogen and dried air are preheated and introduced through the inlets 6 and 7 into the mixing chamber 8. The four component mixture is advanced into the combustion chamber 1 of the burner and burned in a flame. In order to sustain the flame, an additional quantity of hydrogen can be supplied through the annular chamber 2 which surrounds the combustion chamber 1.