Suspensions Of Silica Particles Research Articles

Silica coating with well-defined micro-nano hierarchy for universal and stable surface superhydrophobicity

A universal method is proposed to produce superhydrophobic silica coating on the surfaces of either soft or hard substrates. The well-defined hierarchical structures can be formed by spraying, dipping and dropping the suspension of perfluorosilane-coated silica particles. Further adhesive-layer technique and the corresponding robustness mechanism have been investigated, and the created superhydrophobic surface shows high robustness and performance maintenance after various types of damages, including finger wiping, knife scratching and even 60 of abrasion cycles with sandpaper. Such a surface superhydrophobicity can also fit for the requirements of self-cleaning and oil separation/adsorption.

Interfacial tension gradient driven self-assembly of binary colloidal particles for fabrication of superhydrophobic porous films

HypothesisSelf-assembly of two types of particles into the binary colloidal crystals (BCCs) leads to the peculiar features which the monocomponent colloidal crystals do not possess. However, the self-assembly methods of the BCCs are still limited. ExperimentsA facile, cost-effective and controllable approach was presented to fabricate the BCCs by directly dripping silica particle suspensions containing water and ethanol into the monodisperse polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) colloidal solutions. The BCCs composed of the silica and PTFE particles were formed at the air-liquid interface and picked up using the target substrates, followed by the corrosion of silica particles. Using this strategy, various ordered porous PTFE films including homo-pore-size mono/multilayer and hetero-pore-size bilayer films were prepared. The chemical composition of the porous films was well controlled. FindingsThe dissolution of ethanol resulted in the interfacial tension gradient, and thus the Marangoni convection and the relative movement of the liquid and the particles emerged. The silica particles were trapped at the air-liquid interface and the PTFE particles filled the interstitial spaces between the silica particles. After the porous films were sintered at temperatures above the melting point of PTFE, the PTFE particles were transformed into nanofibers, leading to the transferability, excellent superhydrophobicity and environmental durability.

Size Separation of Silica Particles Using a Magnetite-Containing Gel-Packed Column

A magnetite-containing gel was prepared by water-in-oil radical polymerization of N,N-dimethylacrylamide and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide in the presence of magnetite. The size of the prepared gel particles was 86 µm. The obtained magnetite-containing gel was packed in a column and first permeated with water, which revealed that the gel displayed a nonlinear response to pressure drop with increasing flow rate. Thus, the gel particles at the bottom of the column felt more pressure from the fluid than those at the top, causing greater deformation of the gel particles at the bottom of the column than at the top. The gaps between the packed gel particles functioned as pores to filter particles of appropriate size and morphology. An industrial silica particle suspension with particle sizes of 300 nm, 800 nm, and 10 µm was permeated through the gel layer. The smallest (300 nm) silica particles passed through the column. The filtered silica particles were recovered from the gel layer by using a magnet to separate the magnetite-containing gel from the filtered silica particles. This magnetite-containing gel has wide application prospects for the separation of not only ceramics but also other colloids.

Improving the adhesion, flexibility, and hemostatic efficacy of a sprayable polymer blend surgical sealant by incorporating silica particles

Commercially available surgical sealants for internal use either lack sufficient adhesion or produce cytotoxicity. This work describes a surgical sealant based on a polymer blend of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) that increases wet tissue adherence by incorporation of nano-to-microscale silica particles, without significantly affecting cell viability, biodegradation rate, or local inflammation. In functional studies, PLGA/PEG/silica composite sealants produce intestinal burst pressures that are comparable to cyanoacrylate glue (160 mmHg), ∼2 times greater than the non-composite sealant (59 mmHg), and ∼3 times greater than fibrin glue (49 mmHg). The addition of silica to PLGA/PEG is compatible with a sprayable in situ deposition method called solution blow spinning and decreases coagulation time in vitro and in vivo. These improvements are biocompatible and cause minimal additional inflammation, demonstrating the potential of a simple composite design to increase adhesion to wet tissue through physical, noncovalent mechanisms and enable use in procedures requiring simultaneous occlusion and hemostasis. Statement of SignificanceIncorporating silica particles increases the tissue adhesion of a polymer blend surgical sealant. The particles enable interfacial physical bonding with tissue and enhance the flexibility of the bulk of the sealant, without significantly affecting cytotoxicity, inflammation, or biodegradation. These studies also demonstrate how silica particles decrease blood coagulation time.This surgical sealant improves upon conventional devices because it can be easily deposited with accuracy directly onto the surgical site as a solid polymer fiber mat. The deposition method, solution blow spinning, allows for high loading in the composite fibers, which are sprayed from a polymer blend solution containing suspended silica particles. These findings could easily be translated to other implantable or wearable devices due to the versatility of silica particles.

Use of α-amylase/silica particle suspensions to optimize cleaning in a simulated cleaning-in-place system

The activity and stability of α-amylase on silica particle suspensions were studied by analyzing the influence of time, temperature, enzyme concentration and silica particle concentration. The recovery of enzymatic activity was also explored using different centrifugation and reconstitution cycles and experimental times, comparing the results with those obtained without particles. Higher recovery of enzymatic activity was obtained by centrifugation at 60 °C and with a ratio particle concentration/enzyme concentration higher than 20. The cleaning of heat-treated starch retained in stainless steel was analyzed in a Cleaning-In-Place device (CIP) using enzymatic solutions with and without silica particles. The utilization of enzymatic solutions without microparticles enabled 36% of activity to be recovered by centrifugation. When silica particles were included in the washing solutions, the detergency recovered was up to 50%, this not being significantly affected by the storage time, nor the number of centrifugation and washing cycles.

Ultrasound attenuation and phase velocity of moderately concentrated silica suspensions

Ultrasound attenuation coefficient and phase velocity of moderately concentrated suspensions of charged silica particles were measured as a function of frequency. The attenuation coefficients were found to be significantly smaller than the theoretical prediction, and such a difference did not appear in the neutral particle suspensions under the corresponding concentrations. In this study, we have investigated the acoustic spectra of silica particles with different particle sizes, concentrations as well as salt concentrations. It was revealed that the noticeable deviation from the theoretical estimation only appeared in the case of large particle sizes close to the wavelength of ultrasound, and could be circumvented by addition of small amount of salt to suppress the electrostatic interactions of the charged silica particles.

H2O/D2O Contrast Variation for Ultra-Small-Angle Neutron Scattering to Minimize Multiple Scattering Effects of Colloidal Particle Suspensions

This study investigated the use of solvent contrast (H2O/D2O ratio) as a means to optimize the ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) signal. By optimizing the signal, it was possible to reduce the undesirable effects of coherent multiple scattering while still maintaining a measurable scattered intensity. This result will further enable the use of USANS as a probe of the interactions between colloidal particles and their structures within concentrated suspensions as well as particle dispersion/aggregation. As a model system, we prepared silica colloidal particle suspensions at different solid concentrations. USANS curves were measured using the classical Bonse–Hart double crystal diffractometer while varying the scattering length density of the aqueous phase, thus varying the contrast to the silica particles. As a means of assessing the impact of multiple scattering effects on different q-values, we analyzed the scattered intensity at different contrasts at three different q values. The data were then used to determine the match point of the silica particle suspensions from the expected square root dependence of the scattered intensity with solvent composition, to analyze any differences associated with the solid concentration change, and to determine the optimum H2O/D2O ratio in terms of high transmission (TSAS > 80%) and high enough scattering intensity associated with the contrast of the system. Through this investigation series, we confirmed that adjusting the contrast of the solvent (H2O/D2O) is a good methodology to reduce multiple scattering while maintaining a strong enough scattering signal from a concentrated suspension of silica particles for both USANS and rheometric USANS (rheo-USANS) experiments.

A Facile Interfacial Self-Assembly of Crystalline Colloidal Monolayers by Tension Gradient

Many self-assembly approaches of colloidal monolayers have flourished but with some shortages, such as complexity, time-consumption, parameter sensitivity, and high-cost. This paper presents a facile, rapid, well-controlled, and low-cost method to prepare monolayers by directly adding silica particle suspensions containing water and ethanol to different liquids. A detailed analysis of the self-assembly process was conducted. The particles dove into water firstly, then moved up under the effect of the buoyancy and the tension gradient. The tension gradient induced the Marangoni convection and the relative motion between the water and the particles. At last, the particles were adsorbed at the air-water interface to minimize the free energy. The quality of the monolayers depended on the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfonate or ethanol in the water subphase. An interfacial polymerization of ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate was used to determine the contact angles of the particles at different subphase surfaces. The value of the detachment energy was positively associated with the contact angle and the surface tension. When the detachment energy decreased to a certain value, some particles detached from the surface, leading to the formation of a quasi-double layer. We also observed that the content of ethanol in suspensions influenced the arrangement of particles.

The coherent shear wave in suspensions

We consider a disordered suspension of spherical silica particles in water. For a particle size of a few hundred nanometres and concentration (volume fraction) around 0.15 to 0.2, experiments conducted in the MHz range have shown that the non ideal nature of water must be taken into account for the "longitudinal" coherent wave attenuation to be understood, because of wave conversions, from longitudinal to shear and then back to longitudinal, occurring at each pair of scattering events. We are interested here in the properties of the "shear" coherent wave that are given by the expansion of its squared wavenumber, around that in the absence of particles, in powers of the concentration. At 1 MHz and a particle radius of 0.05 μm, we show that convergence of the modal series involved in that expansion may be reached after three terms: we use ten terms subsequently. We study the evolution of both the effective shear velocity and attenuation with concentration, as well as that of the effective shear viscosity deduced therefrom.

Rheology signature of flocculated silica suspensions

We experimentally study the behavior of suspensions of silica particles in aqueous solution. Despite many studies on these materials, the dependence of the overall rheological properties of the suspension on particle size, solid volume fraction, ionic strength, and strain history remains debated. In this paper, we manage to manufacture materials and develop procedures that allow us (i) to approach this problem in the best possible way and (ii) to check that the results obtained with well controlled systems (monodisperse silica spherical particles) also apply to less controlled suspensions (crushed silica particles). We find that the elastic modulus-particle size and yield stress-particle size relationships follow power laws that disagree with classical models from the literature. We also show that elastic modulus versus yields stress data fall on a single master curve when rescaled by particle size, whatever are solid volume fraction, resting time, and ionic strength. This suggests that the rescaled elastic modulus can play the role of a parameter in a structural kinetics model of the behavior of thixotropic suspensions. Furthermore confocal observations of the system provided evidence that the evolution of the overall properties of the material with resting time cannot be ascribed to changes in the particle network.

Speckle-Visibility Spectroscopy of Depolarized Dynamic Light Scattering.

We show that the statistical analysis of photon counts in depolarized dynamic light scattering experiments allows for the accurate characterization of the rotational Brownian dynamics of particles. Unlike photon correlation spectroscopy, the technique is accurate even at low temporal resolution and enables discontinuous data acquisition, which offers several advantages. To demonstrate the usefulness of the method, we present a case study in which we analyze aqueous suspensions of tunicate cellulose nanocrystals and silica particles, and discuss aspects that are specific to particle sizing.

Quantum efficiency of colloidal suspensions containing quantum dot/silica hybrid particles

We have investigated the fluorescence properties of colloidal suspensions conntaining quantum dot (QD)/silica hybrid particles. First, we synthesized QD/silica hybrid particles with silica–QD–silica (SQS) core–shell–shell geometry, and monitored the quantum efficiencies of their suspensions at various particle concentrations. We found that the quantum efficiency (QE) of SQS particles in deionized (DI) water was much lower than that of the QDs even at low particle concentration, mainly due to the light scattering of emitted photons at the silica/water interface, followed by reabsorption by QDs. As the concentration of SQS particles was increased, both light scattering and reabsorption by QDs became more important, which further reduced the QE. Refractive index-matched solvent, however, reduced light scattering, yielding greater QE than DI water. Next, we induced aggregation of SQS particles, and found that QE increased as particles aggregated in DI water because of reduced light scattering and reabsorption, whereas it remained almost constant in the refractive index-matched solvent. Finally, we studied aggregation of highly concentrated silica particle suspensions containing a low concentration of SQS particles, and found that QE increased with aggregation because light scattering and reabsorption were reduced.

Rapid nanopatterning technique based on monolayer silica nanosphere close-packing by spin coating

Nanoparticles monolayer formation by spin coating is considered to be a simple, fast and inexpensive nanopatterning technique. However, the parameters that govern the overall growth process in this technique are not completely quantified and techniques for the controlled and continuous growth of close packed monolayer particle arrays without defects need to be developed. In this paper, an ordered particle array formation process is analyzed theoretically, employing material flux balance and particle-subjected forces balance, based on the film thickness model of spin coating and evaporation rate law. A series of experiments were conducted using silica particle suspensions with various particle volume fractions and different spin speeds. The results show that the spin speed should match the particle volume fraction to meet the requirements of material flux and particles movement in order to obtain a close packed monolayer film. The formation mechanism of fabrication defects involving particle agglomeration and uncontrollable voids were analyzed qualitatively based on crystal growth theory, and validation experiments were performed. The formation of highly uniform close-packed monolayer films was demonstrated and the condition requirements for achieving monolayer nanoparticles array with good quality presented.

Flow microreactor synthesis of gold nanoshells and patchy particles

Silica@Au core-shell type composite particles are promising for biomedical applications due to their unique optical and chemical characteristics, although the problem lies in the synthetic processes. They are typically synthesized via batch type reactions including multiple steps, and the complexity in the synthetic process is an obstacle to practical applications. A robust and facile process is thus required. In the present study, we developed a flow synthetic process by applying a microreactor with a high mixing performance to silica@Au nanoshells and patchy particles. Following a concept of selective nucleation and subsequent growth of the gold on the core surface, we mixed a suspension of surface-modified silica particles containing gold ions with a reducing agent solution in the microreactor, and investigated the effects of the core particle size and the type of reducing agents on the composite particle synthesis. Through the investigation, we found that the ratio of the gold ion amount to the surface area of core particles is a key factor for obtaining uniform core-shell particles. In addition, the morphology of gold formed on the core surface was demonstrated to change from spherical nanoparticles to dendritic patches depending on the reducing ability of reducing agents.

Polymeric Inverse Glasses for Development of Noniridescent Structural Colors in Full Visible Range.

Amorphous colloidal array with short-range order displays noniridescent structural colors due to the isotropic nature of the colloidal arrangement. The low angle dependence renders the colloidal glasses, which is promising for various coloration applications. Nevertheless, the colloidal glasses are difficult to develop red structural color due to strong cavity-like resonance from individual particles in the blue region. To suppress the cavity mode and develop the colors in the full visible range, we prepare inverse glasses composed of amorphous array of air cavities with short-range order. To produce the structures in a simple and reproducible manner, monodisperse silica particles are dispersed in a photocurable resin of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) at a volume fraction of 0.3. The particles spontaneously form the amorphous array with short-range order, which is rapidly captured in polymeric films by photopolymerization of the resin. Selective removal of silica particles from the polymerized resin leaves behind amorphous array of air cavities. The inverse glasses display structural colors with negligible backscattering in blue due to short optical path and low index in each cavity. Therefore, the colors can be tuned in full visible range by simply controlling the cavity size. The photocurable suspensions of silica particles can be patterned by photolithography, which enables the production of freestanding films containing patterned inverse glasses with noniridescent structural colors.

Effect of surface modification and medium on the rheological properties of silica nanoparticle suspensions

The unmodified and 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TPM) modified silica nanoparticles were synthesized via the modified Stöber method. The structure and chemical composition of silica nanoparticles were determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results demonstrate that silica nanoparticles with the diameter of 90nm and amorphous state are successfully modified by TPM. The rheological test results demonstrated that surface modification of nanoparticles and medium exerted great influence on the rheological properties of silica particle suspension. Under high shear rate of about 250s−1, the viscosity of suspension comprising unmodified silica nanoparticles and deionized water, TPM-modified silica nanoparticles and deionized water, TPM-modified silica nanoparticles and polyethylene glycol, is about 0.4Pa.s, 0.1Pa.s and 30Pa.s, respectively. The results are significant for preparing homogenous and stable silica nanoparticle suspension, and meaningful for ceramic processing.

Ultrafiltration of charge-stabilized dispersions at low salinity.

We present a comprehensive study of cross-flow ultrafiltration (UF) of charge-stabilized suspensions, under low-salinity conditions of electrostatically strongly repelling colloidal particles. The axially varying permeate flux, near-membrane concentration-polarization (CP) layer and osmotic pressure profiles are calculated using a macroscopic diffusion-advection boundary layer method, and are compared with filtration experiments on aqueous suspensions of charge-stabilized silica particles. The theoretical description based on the one-component macroion fluid model (OCM) accounts for the strong influence of surface-released counterions on the renormalized colloid charge and suspension osmotic compressibility, and for the influence of the colloidal hydrodynamic interactions and electric double layer repulsion on the concentration-dependent suspension viscosity η, and collective diffusion coefficient Dc. A strong electro-hydrodynamic enhancement of Dc and η, and likewise of the osmotic pressure, is predicted theoretically, as compared with their values for a hard-sphere suspension. We also point to the failure of generalized Stokes-Einstein relations describing reciprocal relations between Dc and η. According to our filtration model, Dc is of dominant influence, giving rise to an only weakly developed CP layer having practically no effect on the permeate flux. This prediction is quantitatively confirmed by our UF measurements of the permeate flux using an aqueous suspension of charged silica spheres as the feed system. The experimentally detected fouling for the largest considered transmembrane pressure values is shown not to be due to filter cake formation by crystallization or vitrification.

Transmission optical coherence tomography based measurement of optical material properties.

We present transmission optical coherence tomography (transmission OCT) as a versatile tool to measure optical material properties of turbid media. The transmission OCT signal is described in detail and it is demonstrated how the group refractive index (n(g)), group velocity dispersion (GVD) and optical attenuation can be determined from this signal. We experimentally validate the refractive index properties of glasses, liquids and glucose water solutions in terms of n(g) and GVD. Measurements of scattering coefficients are determined using transmission OCT for suspensions of silica particles. Quantitative agreement is obtained with a dependent scattering model, both for the average as well as the wavenumber resolved optical attenuation coefficient. Good agreement is observed between our measurements and literature values.

Preparation of monodispersed mesoporous silica particles and their applications in adsorption of Au3+ and Hg2+ after mercapto-functionalized treatment

Colloidal suspensions of monodispersed nanoporous silica particles were first successfully synthesized by using small organic amine (N,N,N′,N′-Tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine) as basic catalyst; and then, the mercaptopropyl functionalized counterpart was also fabricated by co-condensation of mercaptopropyl silane and tetraethyl orthosilicate in a similar way. These nanoporous silica particles were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and X-ray diffraction. Experimental results indicated that all the spherical nanoporus silica particles are uniform (with the size of about 30–40 nm) and possessed large specific surface area (about 500 m2/g), large pore volume (>1.6 cm3g−1) and narrow pore sizes distribution (<3 nm). Furthermore, the mercaptopropyl functionalized products served as adsorbent to efficiently remove Hg2+ and Au3+ ions in water.

Aggregation of silica nanoparticles in an aqueous suspension

Aggregation affects the stability of the nanoparticles in fluids. For hydrophilic particles in aqueous suspensions, zeta potential becomes a common measure to control the stability of the particles. However, it is not clear how zeta potential impacts on the interaction of the particles during their close range contact when the hydration repulsion arises strongly. This article demonstrates a method that uses the kinetic theory of aggregation for an aggregation system of changing zeta potential to determine the hydration repulsion and the aggregation efficiency. It was found that the hydration repulsion has an equivalent electrical potential of 30 mV on the stem surface of the particles and an exponential decay length of 2.77 Å. This hydration potential is equivalent to 12 mV zeta potential and contributes 29% to the aggregation coefficient that is 5.5 × 10−6 for a 30 mV zeta potential stabilized silica particle suspension. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 2136–2146, 2015