Controlled synthesis of monodisperse silica particles

Abstract

Spherical silica particles with uniform size (90–520 nm) were successfully fabricated using Stober method. The size of silica particle (fabricated from ethanol, water, ammonia and tetraethyl orthosilicate) was examined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The effect of stirring rates (0–1200 rpm), reaction temperatures (12–75°C) and total volumes (80–400 0ml) on silica particle size was studied in detail. The experiment results indicate that stirring rates has no significant impact on the average size of silica particles, while higher temperature and larger total volume of reactant both result in smaller silica particles.