Functional role of cationic surfactant to control the nano size of silica powder

L P Singh,S K Bhattacharyya,S Ahalawat,G Mishra

doi:10.1007/s13204-011-0016-1

L P Singh, S K Bhattacharyya + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-011-0016-1

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Journal: Applied Nanoscience	Publication Date: Jul 26, 2011
Citations: 90	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Central Building Research Institute

Abstract

Preparation of dispersed, amorphous, spherical silica nanoparticles using cationic surfactant as organic template, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica precursor and ammonia as catalyst has been carried out using sol gel process. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the simultaneous effects of cationic surfactant on the textural and structural properties of silica nanoparticles. We used a series of the cationic surfactants, dodecytrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to evaluate the effects of the chain length of cationic surfactant on the grain size of silica nanoparticles. The size of silica nanoparticles can be finely tuned in the range ~50–100 nm by changing the chain length of cationic surfactant. Decreasing the particle size of silica nano particles resulted in increase in chain length of cationic surfactant. Further, these silica nanoparticles are incorporated with cement paste to evaluate the beneficial effect on mechanical properties of cement. Synthesized silica nanoparticles were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 29Si MAS NMR, powder X-ray diffraction techniques (XRD) and IR studies.

Highlights

Nanotechnology has traditionally contributed significantly to the development of the medical, biological, pharmaceutical, food, agricultural science and wide spectrum of engineering
We used a series of the cationic surfactants, dodecytrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to evaluate the effects of the chain length of cationic surfactant on the grain size of silica nanoparticles
The chosen reaction conditions of room temperature and the use of ammonia as the base promote a slowing of the hydrolysis of the TEOS molecules

Summary

Introduction

Nanotechnology has traditionally contributed significantly to the development of the medical, biological, pharmaceutical, food, agricultural science and wide spectrum of engineering It is a creation of functional materials, devices and systems through manipulation of matter in the nanometer scale and exploitation of novel phenomena and properties which arise because of the nanometer scale. Amorphous and uniform silica nanoparticles have aroused specific interest due to their simple preparation and potential applications in various industries It can be used as effective materials in various cementitious system for improving the strength, flexibility, durability, workability, etc. Various types of morphology such as hexagonal, cubic, lamellar, and wormhole like mesostructures have been synthesized using these methods. It is well-known that spherical dispersed silica nanoparticles can be prepared by using the sol gel method. Many efforts have been made to control the particle size and morphology of

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Conclusion