Facile one-pot emulsion/sol-gel method for preparing wrinkled silica microspheres (Open Access)--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Hu, Y., Hao, D., Gong, F., Gao, Y., Yan, X., & Ma, G. (2021). Facile one-pot emulsion/sol-gel method for preparing wrinkled silica microspheres. Particuology, 56, 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2020.10.004

Facile one-pot emulsion/sol-gel method for preparing wrinkled silica microspheres (Open Access)

Yuning Hu^{a b}, Dongxia Hao^{a b}, Fangling Gong ^{a b *}, Yuanyuan Gao ^{a b}, Xingran Yan ^{a b}, Guanghui Ma ^{a b *}

a State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100190, China
b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

10.1016/j.partic.2020.10.004

Volume 56, June 2021, Pages 33-42

Received 17 September 2020, Revised 19 October 2020, Accepted 22 October 2020, Available online 16 November 2020, Version of Record 8 March 2021.

E-mail: gfling@ipe.ac.cn; ghma@ipe.ac.cn

Highlights

• Uniform wrinkled silica microspheres with diameters of tens of microns.

• New strategy combining one-pot emulsion/sol-gel method and membrane emulsification.

• Sol-to-gel transition control produced microspheres with various morphologies.

• The microsphere surface grooves could trap polymer nanoparticles of matching size.

Abstract

The present manuscript describes a facile and versatile method for preparing uniform wrinkled silica microspheres with diameters of tens of microns. The method comprises a one-pot emulsion/sol-gel method using silica precursors of organosilane and tetraethoxysilane. By controlling the sol-to-gel transition of the silica precursors, a series of silica microspheres based on uniform emulsion droplets was synthesized by membrane emulsification. The silica microspheres had a variety of surface morphologies ranging from smooth, maze-like wrinkles to polygon-like ravines. It was possible to alter the surface morphologies of the microspheres by controlling the amount of organosilane in the dispersed phase and the amount of ammonia catalyst in the continuous phase of the emulsion. The grooves on the wrinkled microspheres were able to trap polymer nanoparticles of matching size, thereby demonstrating the potential usefulness of the microspheres in separation science and drug delivery.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Wrinkled silica microsphere; Membrane emulsification; Emulsion/sol-gel method

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