Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness
Porous hollow silica particles possess promising applications in many fields, ranging from drug delivery to catalysis. From the synthesis perspective, the most challenging parameters are the monodispersity of the size distribution and the thickness and porosity of the shell of the particles. This pa...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/7/1172 |
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| author | Mohammed A. Al-Khafaji Anikó Gaál Bálint Jezsó Judith Mihály Dorota Bartczak Heidi Goenaga-Infante Zoltán Varga |
| author_facet | Mohammed A. Al-Khafaji Anikó Gaál Bálint Jezsó Judith Mihály Dorota Bartczak Heidi Goenaga-Infante Zoltán Varga |
| author_sort | Mohammed A. Al-Khafaji |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Porous hollow silica particles possess promising applications in many fields, ranging from drug delivery to catalysis. From the synthesis perspective, the most challenging parameters are the monodispersity of the size distribution and the thickness and porosity of the shell of the particles. This paper demonstrates a facile two-pot approach to prepare monodisperse porous-hollow silica particles with uniform spherical shape and well-tuned shell thickness. In this method, a series of porous-hollow inorganic and organic-inorganic core-shell silica particles were synthesized via hydrolysis and condensation of 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl) ethane (BTEE) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in the presence of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a structure-directing agent on solid silica spheres as core templates. Finally, the core templates were removed via hydrothermal treatment under alkaline conditions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to characterize the particles′ morphology and size distribution, while the changes in the chemical composition during synthesis were followed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) was applied to assess the monodispersity of the hollow particles prepared with different reaction parameters. We found that the presence of BTEE is key to obtaining a well-defined shell structure, and the increase in the concentration of the precursor and the surfactant increases the thickness of the shell. TEM and spICP-MS measurements revealed that fused particles are also formed under suboptimal reaction parameters, causing the broadening of the size distribution, which can be preceded by using appropriate concentrations of BTEE, CTAB, and ammonia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:35:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b61cd48df59148548710806b9d053380 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:35:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-b61cd48df59148548710806b9d0533802023-11-30T23:45:31ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912022-04-01127117210.3390/nano12071172Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell ThicknessMohammed A. Al-Khafaji0Anikó Gaál1Bálint Jezsó2Judith Mihály3Dorota Bartczak4Heidi Goenaga-Infante5Zoltán Varga6Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, H-1117 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, H-1117 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, H-1117 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, H-1117 Budapest, HungaryNational Measurement Laboratory, LGC Limited, Teddington TW11 0LY, UKNational Measurement Laboratory, LGC Limited, Teddington TW11 0LY, UKInstitute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, H-1117 Budapest, HungaryPorous hollow silica particles possess promising applications in many fields, ranging from drug delivery to catalysis. From the synthesis perspective, the most challenging parameters are the monodispersity of the size distribution and the thickness and porosity of the shell of the particles. This paper demonstrates a facile two-pot approach to prepare monodisperse porous-hollow silica particles with uniform spherical shape and well-tuned shell thickness. In this method, a series of porous-hollow inorganic and organic-inorganic core-shell silica particles were synthesized via hydrolysis and condensation of 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl) ethane (BTEE) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in the presence of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a structure-directing agent on solid silica spheres as core templates. Finally, the core templates were removed via hydrothermal treatment under alkaline conditions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to characterize the particles′ morphology and size distribution, while the changes in the chemical composition during synthesis were followed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) was applied to assess the monodispersity of the hollow particles prepared with different reaction parameters. We found that the presence of BTEE is key to obtaining a well-defined shell structure, and the increase in the concentration of the precursor and the surfactant increases the thickness of the shell. TEM and spICP-MS measurements revealed that fused particles are also formed under suboptimal reaction parameters, causing the broadening of the size distribution, which can be preceded by using appropriate concentrations of BTEE, CTAB, and ammonia.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/7/1172porous hollow silica particlesorganosilica1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl) ethanespICP-MS |
| spellingShingle | Mohammed A. Al-Khafaji Anikó Gaál Bálint Jezsó Judith Mihály Dorota Bartczak Heidi Goenaga-Infante Zoltán Varga Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness Nanomaterials porous hollow silica particles organosilica 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl) ethane spICP-MS |
| title | Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness |
| title_full | Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness |
| title_fullStr | Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness |
| title_short | Synthesis of Porous Hollow Organosilica Particles with Tunable Shell Thickness |
| title_sort | synthesis of porous hollow organosilica particles with tunable shell thickness |
| topic | porous hollow silica particles organosilica 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl) ethane spICP-MS |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/7/1172 |
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