Mesoporous silica nanoparticles with controllable morphology prepared from oil-in-water emulsions

Hanna Gustafsson; Simon Isaksson; Annika Altskär; Krister Holmberg

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.026

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles with controllable morphology prepared from oil-in-water emulsions

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Apr 1:467:253-260. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.026. Epub 2016 Jan 14.

Authors

Hanna Gustafsson¹, Simon Isaksson², Annika Altskär³, Krister Holmberg⁴

Affiliations

¹ Applied Surface Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg SE-412 96, Sweden; Biological Physics, Dept. of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg SE-412 96, Sweden.
² Applied Surface Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg SE-412 96, Sweden.
³ Structure and Material Design, SP - Food and Bioscience, Box 5401, Gothenburg SE-402 29, Sweden.
⁴ Applied Surface Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg SE-412 96, Sweden. Electronic address: krister.holmberg@chalmers.se.

PMID: 26803604
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.026

Abstract

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles are an important class of materials with a wide range of applications. This paper presents a simple protocol for synthesis of particles as small as 40nm and with a pore size that can be as large as 9nm. Reaction conditions including type of surfactant, type of catalyst and presence of organic polymer were investigated in order to optimize the synthesis. An important aim of the work was to understand the mechanism behind the formation of these unusual structures and an explanation based on silica condensation in the small aqueous microemulsion droplets that are present inside the drops of an oil-in-water emulsion is put forward.

Keywords: Emulsion; Mesoporous silica; Microemulsion; Nanoparticle; Surfactant.