Controlling surface area and pore size of microcapsules are key parameters for modulating their activity in various applications. Here we describe a microfluidics-based approach for the formation of monodisperse silica-coated micron-scale porous capsules of controllable sizes.
Polydispersity of TX-100 surfactant affects the structure of reverse micelles remarkably, and TX-100 with 5–10 EO units endows the micelles with hierarchical micellar interface, favoring for the preparation of monodisperse silica nanoparticles.
AbstractMonodisperse spherical nanoporous silicon ( np -Si) particles of submicrometer size are fabricated with mesoporous silica particles as a template. Silicon is synthesized within the mesopores of monodisperse silica particles by the thermal decomposition of monosilane. Then, the template material ( a -SiO_2) is removed by wet etching. The particles obtained have a small root-mean-square size scatter (no more than 10%) and large specific surface area (250 m^2 g^–1) and pore volume (0.5 cm^3 g^–1). It is shown that np -Si particles exhibit photoluminescence in the visible and near-IR (infrared) spectral ranges.
Multi-scale microporous silica microcapsules from gas-in water-in oil emulsions