Titania nanoparticles activated tellurite zinc–silicate glass with controlled hydrophobic and hydrophilic traits for self-cleaning applications

Abstract Functional glasses with improved hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties are ever–demanding for self–cleaning applications. This paper reports the transformation of the self–cleaning property of a new type of tellurite zinc-silicate glasses achieved via titania (TiO2) nanoparticles embedment. Such glasses were prepared by melt–quenching method and characterized using AFM, VCA, FTIR and Raman analyses. The experimental results were complemented via Young, Young Dupre, Wenzel, and Cassie–Baxter model calculations. Glass sample synthesized with 0.01 mol% of TiO2 nanoparticles revealed the optimum Young, Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter water contact angle (WCA) of 86.27o, 88.40o, 116.31o respectively and the surface tension of 0.1584 Nm−1 (for Young) and 0.1522 Nm−1 (for Wenzel). It was shown that through the interplay between TiO2 nanoparticles and TeO2 concentrations one can control the hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties of the proposed glass system, thereby leading towards efficient self–cleaning applications.