Abstract
A facile synthesis method has been developed to directly convert solid Na2SiO3 hollow microspheres into non-aggregated hollow SiO2 microspheres at ambient pressure and temperature. An initial dispersion of Na2SiO3 microspheres (mean diameter: 10–50μm) in ethanol was prepared, and subsequent hydrolysis of Na2SiO3 was performed using a HCl solution. Other precipitants such as ammonium salts (NH4Cl, (NH4)2SO4) and boron oxide (B2O3) were also tested. The characteristics of the synthesized hollow microspheres were investigated in detail by thermogravimetric analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, and X-ray diffraction. The as-prepared SiO2 microspheres were hollow with diameters between 10 and 50μm. The surface area of these microspheres, determined by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, was in the range 193–288m2g−1. Using the proposed method, the size and shape of the obtained silica microspheres are largely determined by the size of low-cost and environmentally friendly precursor sodium silicate microspheres.
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