Issue 60, 2017, Issue in Progress

Synthesis of anisotropic silica colloids

Abstract

A water-in-alcohol emulsion strategy was exploited for the preparation of various anisotropic silica colloids. Sodium citrate and highly concentrated polyvinylpyrrolidone (in the water-rich emulsion droplets) were utilized to costabilize the emulsion system. Simply by choosing proper alcohols and/or the mixing ratios of the alcohol mixtures, a wide range of shape- and structure-selective silica micro-/nanostructures, including hollow structures, were prepared. Some binary alcohol combinations, e.g. 1-heptanol/ethanol, can provide superb versatility via tuning the mixing ratio. In particular, the formation process of the anisotropic silica particles was examined. Tentatively, a “salting-out” mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of a Janus-like silica-droplet structure at the initial silica condensation stage, which is essential for the present anisotropic growth mode. The effect of the interfacial tensions between silica and the emulsion system was discussed. Interestingly, one-end-opened hollow structures, e.g. silica “tubes”, can be achieved by arresting the anisotropic growth of hollow silica particles midway.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of anisotropic silica colloids

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Mar 2017
Accepted
06 Jul 2017
First published
28 Jul 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 37542-37548

Synthesis of anisotropic silica colloids

Q. Yu, K. Wang, J. Zhang, M. Liu, Y. Liu and C. Cheng, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 37542 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA02835K

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