Formation of monodisperse mesoporous silica microparticles via spray-drying.
In this work, a protocol to synthesize monodisperse mesoporous silica microparticles via a unique microfluidic jet spray-drying route is reported for the first time. The microparticles demonstrated highly ordered hexagonal mesostructures with surface areas ranging from ~900 up to 1500 m(2)/g and pore volumes from ~0.6 to 0.8 cm(3)/g. The particle size could be easily controlled from ~50 to 100 μm from the same diameter nozzle via changing the initial solute content, or changing the drying temperature. The ratio of the surfactant (CTAB) and silica (TEOS), and the amount of water in the precursor were found to affect the degree of ordering of mesopores by promoting either the self-assembly of the surfactant-silica micelles or the condensation of the silica as two competing processes in evaporation induced self-assembly. The drying rate and the curvature of particles also affected the self-assembly of the mesostructure. The particle mesostructure is not influenced by the inlet drying temperature in the range of 92-160 °C, with even a relatively low temperature of 92 °C producing highly ordered mesoporous microparticles. The spray-drying derived mesoporous silica microparticles, while of larger sizes and more rapidly synthesized, showed a comparable performance with the conventional mesoporous silica MCM-41 in controlled release of a dye, Rhodamine B, indicating that these spray dried microparticles could be used for the immobilisation and controlled release of small molecules.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Kathryn
K
Waldron
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
Winston Duo
WD
Wu
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Zhangxiong
Z
Wu
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Wenjie
W
Liu
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: cordelia.selomulya@monash.edu.
Cordelia
C
Selomulya
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Department of Chemistry and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: dyzhao@fudan.edu.cn.
Dongyuan
D
Zhao
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen 361005, PR China. Electronic address: xdc@xmu.edu.cn.
Xiao Dong
XD
Chen
D000077286:Cetrimonium; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D003890:Desiccation; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008823:Micelles; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008863:Microspheres; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014835:Volatilization; D014867:Water
D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C509968:MCM-41; D008823:Micelles; D012235:Rhodamines; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; C029773:rhodamine B; D000077286:Cetrimonium
Controlled release; Mesoporous silica; Microparticles; Spray drying