Nanoengineering of iron oxide and iron oxide/silica hollow spheres by sequential layering combined with a sol-gel process

Fe2O3 and Fe2O3/SiO2 hollow spheres with tailored dimensions and compositions were created by consecutively coating polystyrene (PS) latices either with Fe3+ alternately adsorbed with Nafion or combining a sol-gel process based on the hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), and subsequently removing the cores upon pyrolysis.     

单分散空心SiO2纳米微球的合成与表征

聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)功能化的聚苯乙烯(PS)粒子在SiO2包覆的同时被乙醇/氨水介质溶解, 得到了单分散空心SiO2纳米微球. 该空心SiO2纳米微球的尺寸和形态可以通过PVP, NH4OH和正硅酸乙酯(TEOS)的用量来调节. PVP用量增加导致PS粒子变小, 从而得到较小的空心SiO2纳米微球; NH4OH用量增加, 空心SiO2纳米微球表面变得粗糙; TEOS用量增加, 空心SiO2纳米微球的壳层厚度增加. 包覆(溶解)温度是控制空心SiO2纳米微球形成的最有效手段. 在70 ℃的包覆(溶解)温度下可以获得全部空心的SiO2纳米微球.     

Synthesis and antibacterial property of hollow SiO2/Ag nanocomposite spheres

This paper presents a novel and facile method to fabricate hollow silica/sliver (SiO(2)/Ag) nanocomposite spheres. In this approach, the monodisperse hollow SiO(2) colloids bearing quantenary ammonium groups were prepared by dispersion polymerization combined sol-gel process and used as templates. The Ag(+) ions were first adsorbed onto the surfaces of the hollow SiO(2) beads via electrostatic interaction and then in situ reduced by the deprotonated silanol groups of the hollow SiO(2) beads, no extra reducing agents or catalysts were added during the reduction process. TEM, SEM and EDX analyses indicated that Ag nanoparticles were successfully deposited onto the surfaces of hollow SiO(2) beads. Some influencing parameters, such as the amount of quantenary ammonium groups in the inner wall of hollow SiO(2) colloids, Ag(+) ions concentration and reaction temperature, on the deposition of Ag nanoparticles onto SiO(2) colloids were investigated. Preliminary antibacterial tests indicated that these hollow nanocomposite spheres showed excellent antibacterial ability.     

Preparation of SiO2@polystyrene@polypyrrole sandwich composites and hollow polypyrrole capsules with movable SiO2 spheres inside

In this paper, we describe a flexible method for preparing conducting building blocks: SiO2@polystyrene@polypyrrole sandwich multilayer composites and hollow polypyrrole (PPy) capsules with movable SiO2 spheres inside. First, SiO2@polystyrene (PS) core/shell composites were synthesized, and then SiO2@PS@PPy sandwich multilayer composites were prepared by chemical polymerization of pyrrole monomer on the surface of SiO2@PS composites. Furthermore, hollow polypyrrole capsules with movable SiO2 spheres inside were obtained after removal of the middle PS layer. The diameter of sandwich multilayer composites could easily be controlled by adjusting the dosage of pyrrole monomer. The conductivities of composites increased with the increase of PPy content. After the insulating PS layer was selectively etched, the conductivities of hollow capsules with movable SiO2 spheres inside were much higher than those of the corresponding sandwich multilayer composites.     

Metal oxide and sulfide hollow spheres: layer-by-layer synthesis and their application in lithium-ion battery

A novel layer-by-layer approach has been developed to synthesize polycrystalline SnO(2) hollow spheres with tunable shell thickness and size using SiO(2) spheres as a template. The surface of the SiO(2) spheres has been first modified by the polyelectrolyte, and subsequently, the compact SnO(2) layer has deposited on the surface of the SiO(2) spheres through a redox reaction because of the electrostatic attraction between the charged species. After HF etching treatment, the uniform SnO(2) hollow spheres have been obtained. The approach presented herein has been extended to synthesize other metal oxide and sulfide hollow spheres such as In(2)O(3) and ZnS. Moreover, the as-synthesized SnO(2) hollow spheres have been applied in lithium-ion battery and show improved performance compared with SnO(2) nanoparticles. The high surface area and stable hollow structure of the SnO(2) hollow spheres may be responsible for the improved performance.     

Synthesis, characterization, and optical properties of well-defined N-doped, hollow silica/titania hybrid microspheres

Well-defined nitrogen-doped, hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres were successfully prepared through a two-step sol-gel synthesis combined calcination process using triethylamine as the nitrogen source. In this approach, polystyrene (PS)/silica microspheres were first synthesized. Subsequently, the amine-treated PS/SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres were obtained by sol-gel method. Finally, the elimination of the PS core, nitrogen-doping process, and crystallization of amorphous TiO2 were simultaneously conducted in the calcination process to acquire the final products. The as-prepared hybrid spheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results of XRD, FTIR, and XPS spectra indicated that nitrogen was really doped into the anatase TiO2 shell and confirmed that most nitrogen dopants might be present in the chemical environments of N-Ti-O and Ti-N-O. It was found that the absorption shoulder of nitrogen-doped hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres vastly shifted to the visible region up to around 530 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) bands showed spectral lines at about 421, 472, and 529 nm, which were attributed to the self-trapped excitons, F and F+ centers. Moreover, the intensity of the PL spectra band of hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres increased with as the amount of titanium tetrabutoxide (TBOT) precursor increased. However, the doping of nitrogen into hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres led to the drastic quenching of photoluminescence because of the increase in the separation efficiency of the photoinduced electron and hole pairs.     

Preparation of hollow silica microspheres with controlled shell thickness in supercritical fluids

This article presents a novel route to prepare hollow silica microspheres with well-defined wall thickness by using cross-linked polystyrene (PS) microspheres as templates with the assistance of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂). In this approach, the cross-linked PS templates can be firstly prepared via emulsifier-free polymerization method by using ethylene glycol dimethacrylate or divinylbenzene as cross-linkers. Then, the silica shell from the sol–gel process of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) which was penetrated into the PS template with the assistance of SC-CO₂ was obtained. Finally, the hollow silica spheres were generated after calcinations at 600 °C for 4 h. The shell thickness of the hollow silica spheres could be finely tuned not only by adjusting the TEOS/PS ratio, which is the most frequently used method, but also by changing the pressure and aging time of the SC-CO₂ treatment. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscope were used to characterize these hollow silica spheres.     

中空SiO_2纳米微球的制备与表征

在乙醇/氨水介质中,将SiO2包覆在聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)功能化的聚苯乙烯(PS)微粒表面,利用一步法得到了中空纳米二氧化硅微球;研究了影响中空纳米二氧化硅微球形成的主要因素,并探讨了中空纳米SiO2微球的可能形成机理.结果表明,在一定的反应时间下,当氨水用量为0.6 mL、温度为70℃时,可以获得空心结构的SiO2纳米微球;通过控制四乙基原硅酸盐(TEOS)的量可以调节微球的包覆层厚度.     

利用具有核壳结构的SiO2@PPy粒子制备SiC空心球

碳化硅(SiC)材料具有耐高温、 耐酸碱腐蚀和高机械强度等优异性能, 因此, 许多研究者都致力于制备优良的SiC材料以取代传统材料用作苛刻条件下催化剂的载体材料[1～4]. 研究结果表明, 具有高比表面积和空心核结构的载体材料可以负载更多的异质催化剂, 从而提高催化剂的催化性能. 因此, 制备同时具有高比表面积和空心核结构的SiC材料具有重要的应用价值. 传统的碳热还原反应、 自蔓延高温合成、 聚合物热分解等方法都不适合制备具有独特结构形貌的SiC材料[5～8]. 近年来, Ledoux等[1～4, 9]采用形状记忆合成(Shape memory synthesis)方法将不同形貌的固相碳材料与气相SiO蒸气反应, 成功地制备了不同形状的SiC材料, 比表面积在20～100 m2/g之间. Vix-Guterl等[10- 11]采用反应复制技术(Reactive replica technique)从C/SiO2材料制备了微米级的管状SiC材料. 另外, Tang等[12]采用水热合成法得到了纳米级的SiC空心球, 但产率不高. 本文利用具有核壳结构的SiO2@PPy粒子在1 300 ℃进行碳热还原反应, 成功制备同时具有较高比表面积和空心核结构的SiC空心球材料.     

Polymerization of w/o microemulsions for the preparation of transparent SiO2/PMMA nanocomposites

Reverse w/o microemulsions composed of methyl methacrylate (MMA) forming the oil phase, nonionic surfactants, and water are used for the synthesis of transparent SiO2/PMMA nanocomposites. An inorganic precursor, tetraethoxysilane (Si(OEt)(4), TEOS), is hydrolyzed in the reverse micelles containing aqueous ammonia. During the hydrolysis of TEOS, polymerization of the continuous MMA phase is initiated using AIBN (azobisisobutyronitrile), and after thermal polymerization at 333 K for 12 h, solid blocks of PMMA are obtained in which nanometer-sized silica particles are trapped in the solid polymer matrix. According to small-angle X-ray and dynamic light scattering experiments, the water droplets in MMA microemulsions are 12 nm (R(W) = 13) in diameter, whereas after polymerization of the microemulsion, the SiO2 particles in the transparent SiO2/PMMA composites are 26 nm in diameter. Transmission electron micrographs demonstrate a low degree of agglomeration in the composites. In comparison with materials generated from micelle-free solutions, the particle size distribution is narrow. The reverse micelle-mediated approach produces composites of high transparency comparable with that of pure PMMA.     

Silicon dioxide hollow microspheres with porous composite structure: synthesis and characterization

In this paper, a strategy for hollow porous silica microspheres with ideally flower structure is presented. SiO(2)/PAM hybrid composite microspheres with porous were synthesized by the reaction that the porous polyacrylamide (PAM) micro-gels immersed in tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) anhydrous alcohol solution and water in a moist atmosphere, with ammonium hydroxide as a catalyst. The SiO(2) hollow microspheres with porous were obtained after calcination of the composite microspheres at 550 °C for 4 h. The morphology, composition, and crystalline structure of the microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FI-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), N(2) absorption analysis, respectively. The results indicated that the obtained hollow porous SiO(2) microspheres were a perfect flower structure.     

Sonochemical preparation of hollow nanospheres and hollow nanocrystals

Ceramic hollow spheres of MoS2 and MoO3 were obtained by sonochemical synthesis of MoS2 and MoO3 templated on silica nanoparticles (diameters 50-500 nm) followed by acid etching to remove the silica core. The resulting hollow materials have been characterized by elemental analysis, XPS, SEM, TEM, optical absorption, and hydrodesulfurization (HDS) studies. The TEM studies on the hollow ceramic materials indicate the formation of dispersed free spheres with a hollow core. The hollow materials obtained from thermally treated MoS2/SiO2 (450-700 degrees C) show the formation of layered MoS2 (lattice fringes approximately 6.2 A) with a wall thickness of 6-8 layers. The MoS2 hollow spheres are extremely active catalysts for the HDS of thiophene. Hollow spheres of MoO3 are prepared in a similar fashion. Surprisingly, upon heating, hollow crystals of MoO3 with sharp-edged truncated cubes containing inner voids are formed from the initial spheres.     

Preparation of Porous Hollow SiO2 Spheres by a Modified St?ber Process Using MF Microspheres as Templates

Using the surface charged and acid dissolvable melamine formaldehyde (MF) microspheres as sacrificial hard templates, silica coated MF core?Cshell composite microspheres, denoted as MF@SiO₂, were synthesized via a surfactant-assisted sol?Cgel process by using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica source. Hollow SiO₂ spheres with mesoporous shells were then obtained after selective removal of the MF cores and the pore directing surfactant by hydrochloric acid etching or calcinations in air. Interesting shrinkage phenomena were observed in both the hollow products derived from hydrochloric acid etching and calcinations. The influence of the ratio of MF sphere to TEOS and the removal method of the MF core on the size of the hollow spheres, the shell thickness and the shell surface roughness have been studied. The composition, the thermal stability, the morphology, the surface area and pore size distribution, the wall thickness and adsorption properties of the hollow spheres derived from hydrochloric acid etching and calcinations were also investigated and compared based on the FTIR, SEM, TEM, TGA, Nitrogen adsorption?Cdesorption and spectrophotometer techniques or measurements.     

Synthesis of silica/carbon-encapsulated core-shell spheres: templates for other unique core-shell structures and applications in in situ loading of noble-metal nanoparticles

Silica@carbon core-shell spheres have been synthesized via a hydrothermal carbonization procedure with glucose as the carbon precursor and silica spheres as the cores. Such SiO(2)@C core-shell spheres can be further used as templates to produce SiO(2)@C@SiO(2), and SiO(2)@SiO(2) spheres with a vacant region in two SiO(2) shells, noble-metal nanoparticle loaded SiO(2)@C core-shell spheres, and hollow carbon capsules through different follow-up processes. The obtained core-shell materials possess remarkable chemical reactivity in reducing noble-metal ions to nanoparticles, e.g., platinum. These unique core-shell spherical composites could find applications in catalyst supports, adsorbents, encapsulation, nanoreactors, and reaction templates.     

Anion-Exchange-Driven Disassembly of a SiO(2)/CTAB Composite Mesophase: the Formation of Hollow Mesoporous Silica Spheres

Silica-based surfactant/inorganic composite mesophases have been extremely studied. In this work, we developed a mild method to realize the room-temperature disassembly of a SiO(2)/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) mesophase in a neutral medium. Using KMnO(4) as a typical etching agent, SiO(2)/CTAB mesophase spheres were partially disassembled into normal or rattle-type hollow structures. The disassembly of the SiO(2)/CTAB spheres was supposed to be driven by anion exchange between permanganate and silicate ions. This unique method makes possible the selective etching of a SiO(2)/CTAB mesophase over a SiO(2) phase.     

Fabrication of triple-shelled hollow spheres with optical properties via RAFT polymerization

<正>The triple-shelled hollow spheres with optical properties were prepared via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization.After removal the core templates of the poly(styrene),the hollow silica spheres were obtained.The coating process of poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) on the hollow silica spheres surface via surface RAFT polymerization was performed subsequently.The polymers coated on the hollow spheres surfaces were end-functionalized by trithiocarbonate,and they were used as RAFT agent to proceed the chain extension polymerization using Tb complex as monomer.The samples were characterized by FT-IR,SEM and luminescence spectroscopy respectively.The results indicated that the triple-shelled hollow spheres had been prepared successfully and the average diameter of the hollow core was about 1μm.     

Density fractionated hollow silica microspheres with high-yield by non-polymeric sol–gel/emulsion route

Hollow silica microspheres were synthesized by non-polymeric sol–gel/emulsion technique using tetra ethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a source of silica. A sol mixture of TEOS, water, ethanol and acid was emulsified in a solution of light paraffin oil and surfactant (Span-80). Calcined spheres were density fractionated between density ranges: <1.0, 1.0–1.594, 1.594–1.74 and >1.74 g cm⁻³. The samples were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and laser diffraction size analyzer. Spheres of densities lower than 1.74 g cm⁻³ were found to be hollow as observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and their yield was maximized to 100% by using a specific TEOS volume ratio with respect to volumes of surfactant and oil. Decreasing the calcination temperature from 700 to 500 °C enhances the yield of hollow spheres emphasizing importance of slower diffusion kinetics at lower calcination temperature. Outer diameters of spheres were between 5 and 60 μm with mean diameter expectedly increasing with increase in TEOS sol volume and with decrease in sphere density. It is proposed that silica shells form via hydrolysis and polycondensation at oil–water/ethanol interface in the water-in-oil emulsion, which subsequently form hollow spheres on removal of water–ethanol during calcination.     

A versatile method for the production of monodisperse spherical particles and hollow particles: templating from binary core-shell structures

Using the porosity of a binary exotemplate, with mesoporous core-shell structure (SiO2@ZrO2), opens a new pathway to produce hybrid core-shell spheres, composite hollow spheres, and porous hollow spheres -- all monodisperse in size.     

碳酸镉@二氧化硅菱形体核壳结构以及二氧化硅菱形体空心结构微粒的制备

利用Stöber种子生长法, 第一次在尺寸为2 μm左右的碳酸镉菱形微粒表面直接包覆二氧化硅层, 得到碳酸镉@二氧化硅核壳结构的胶体粒子. 作为核壳结构的壳层部分, 二氧化硅层的厚度可以通过加入体系中的正硅酸乙酯的量来控制. 作为核层的碳酸镉胶体部分可以被盐酸刻蚀掉, 进而得到具有菱形体空心结构的二氧化硅微粒.     

Synthesis and utilization of monodisperse hollow polymeric particles in photonic crystals

We developed a process to fabricate 150-700 nm monodisperse polymer particles with 100-500 nm hollow cores. These hollow particles were fabricated via dispersion polymerization to synthesize a polymer shell around monodisperse SiO(2) particles. The SiO(2) cores were then removed by HF etching to produce monodisperse hollow polymeric particle shells. The hollow core size and the polymer shell thickness, can be easily varied over significant size ranges. These hollow polymeric particles are sufficiently monodisperse that upon centrifugation from ethanol they form well-ordered close-packed colloidal crystals that diffract light. After the surfaces are functionalized with sulfonates, these particles self-assemble into crystalline colloidal arrays in deionized water. This synthetic method can also be used to create monodisperse particles with complex and unusual morphologies. For example, we synthesized hollow particles containing two concentric-independent, spherical polymer shells, and hollow silica particles which contain a central spherical silica core. In addition, these hollow spheres can be used as template microreactors. For example, we were able to fabricate monodisperse polymer spheres containing high concentrations of magnetic nanospheres formed by direct precipitation within the hollow cores.