Sodium hydroxide catalyzed monodispersed high surface area silica nanoparticles.
Understanding of the synthesis kinetics and our ability to modulate medium conditions allowed us to generate nanoparticles via an ultra-fast process. The synthesis medium is kept quite simple with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as precursor and 50% ethanol and sodium hydroxide catalyst. Synthesis is performed under gentle conditions at 20 °C for 20 min Long synthesis time and catalyst-associated drawbacks are most crucial in silica nanoparticle synthesis. We have addressed both these bottlenecks by replacing the conventional Stober catalyst, ammonium hydroxide, with sodium hydroxide. We have reduced the overall synthesis time from 20 to 1/3 h, ~60-fold decrease, and obtained highly monodispersed nanoparticles with 5-fold higher surface area than Stober particles. We have demonstrated that the developed NPs with ~3-fold higher silane can be used as efficient probes for biosensor applications.
Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3060, USA.
Snehasis
S
Bhakta
Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3060, USA.
Chandra K
CK
Dixit
Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3060, USA.
Itti
I
Bist
Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3060, USA.
Karim Abdel
KA
Jalil
Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3060, USA; Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3136, USA.
Steven L
SL
Suib
Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3060, USA; Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3136, USA; Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA; School of Chemistry, National University of Ireland at Galway, Galway, Ireland.
James F
JF
Rusling
Stober; high surface area; silanization; silica nanoparticle; sodium hydroxide