Phillip Cheshire

BSc, University of St Andrews, 2000 PhD Student Telephone 01334 476161 ext 3385   Fax 01334 463808 Email pdc@st-and.ac.uk

Current Research

Titanium dioxide pigments are widely used in a vast range of industries, e.g. paints, plastics, Mars bars, coffee whiteners, for their opacifying and whitening power.

More recently, the photocatalytic properties of anatase titanium dioxide are finding uses in water purification and destruction of organic pollutants and self cleansing anti-bacterial tiles for hospital use.

Ultrafine titanium dioxides are used in non-allergenic sunscreen preparations to scatter harmful UV radiation

The versatility of titanium dioxide derives from the small particle size and the ability to modify its surface properties through inorganic and organic coatings. In my PhD, I will be characterising existing and novel coatings using the latest developments in solid state NMR, high resolution TEM, STEM, UV-Vis, FTIR and X-ray diffraction.

Fig. 1 Electron micrograph of untreated titanium dioxide	Fig. 2 Electron micrograph of coated titanium dioxide

Funding