| Abstract: | Conclusions A complex experiment has been carried out to examine the vibrational spectrum of Aerosil, and it has been found that the silanol group is the main active center of this type of dispersed silica. This fact conforms well with the previously advanced supposition that the structure of the core of silica is of a closed type in this case.The experimentally measured vibrational spectrum of the adsorbed water is practically completely described by a model in which one silanol center reacts with a water cluster. This agrees with the fact that chemical hydrophobic reactions take place on the surface of the usual commercial, i.e.,wet Aerosil. Since water is adsorbed as a cluster around one center, then in the presence of the usual 2. wt. % of water, a large part of the surface will be free of water and available for other reactions.It is natural that the above-considered simple models do not permit explanation of all the details of the observed spectra and a large amount of work will have to be carried out with more complicated models.Patrice Lumumba Peoples's Friendship University, Institute of Surface Chemistry, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Joint Institute of Nuclear Research. Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 66–75, July–August, 1992. |
