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Hollow Silica Spheres of Controlled Size and Porosity by Sol—Gel Processing
Author(s) -
Kim Kyekyoon Kevin,
Jang Kam Yong,
Upadhye Ravindra S.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1991.tb07819.x
Subject(s) - tetraethyl orthosilicate , porosity , materials science , spheres , nozzle , drop (telecommunication) , sol gel , chemical engineering , porous medium , composite material , mineralogy , nanotechnology , chemistry , thermodynamics , mechanical engineering , physics , astronomy , engineering
A new technique particularly suitable for fabricating uniform, hollow silica spheres of controlled size and porosity is described. The technique, which combines sol—gel processing with a hollow‐drop generation technique, consists of producing a continuous stream of uniform, hollow drops of a tetraethyl orthosilicate solution and then converting the drops into a rigid form by exposing them to an ammoniated vapor gelation medium. The parameters controlling the properties of the resulting silica spheres are the detailed chemical makeup of the reactant solution and the gelation medium, and the dimensions and relative positions of the nozzles used for drop generation.