Alkoxy-derived Monodisperse Silica Microspheres: The Role of Solvents in Synthesis

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Abstract
Monodisperse, ultrafine, spherical particles of amorphous silica were produced by the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate under a variety of experimental conditions with methanol, ethanol, 1—propanol and 2—propanol as solvents. 1—and iso—butanol, acetone and 1, 4—dioxan produced non-spherical agglomerates under equivalent conditions. The smallest size and narrowest size range of the spherical particles were observed for the product generated from methanolic solutions. Attempts were made to correlate solvent characteristics, e.g. polarity and viscosity with the time lag of precipitation after onset of reaction, and particle size. It was indicated that under specific conditions, the nature of the solvent could also determine the nature of the polymeric aggregation in the precipitated particles.

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