Size dependent fractal aggregation mediated through surfactant in silica nanoparticle solution

Abstract

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been used to study aggregation of anionic silica nanoparticles in presence of cationic surfactant (DTAB) in aqueous solution. The measurements were carried out for different sizes of nanoparticles (8.2, 16.4 and 26.4 nm) at fixed (1 wt%) nanoparticles and surfactant concentration. It is found that the adsorption of surfactant micelles on the silica nanoparticles leads to the aggregation of nanoparticles, which is characterized by a fractal structure. The number of adsorbed micelles on nanoparticle increases from 7 to 152 with the increase in the size of the nanoparticle from 8.2 to 26.4 nm, whereas interestingly the fractal dimension remains same. The aggregate morphology in these systems is expected to be governed by the diffusion limited aggregation.