Chen Xiaoyi, Xu Hongbo, Hua Chunxia, Zhao Jiupeng, Li Yao, Song Ying
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.
Center for Composite Materials and Structure, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.
Materials (Basel). 2018 Oct 18;11(10):2017. doi: 10.3390/ma11102017.
Silica microspheres (SMs) must possess the performances of desirable monodispersity, narrow particle size distribution, and high sphericity for preparing photonic crystals (PCs) and other materials such as microspheres reference material, etc. We have adopted the techniques of increasing reactant concentration and raising the temperature to improve the synthesis rate of SMs, gaining inspiration from the formation mechanism of ice crystals. SMs with uniform particle sizes (polydispersity index less than 0.05) and good spherical features were fabricated through homogeneous nucleation. The mathematical relationship between particle sizes of SMs and reactant concentrations is further fitted. High accuracy of the regression equation is verified by an F-test and verification experiment. Highly ordered PCs (the stacking fault is about 1.5%, and the point defect is about 10) with dense stacked opal structures have been obtained by self-assembly of SMs. In addition, highly ordered PCs (the stacking fault is about 3%, and the point defect is about 10) with non-dense packed opal structure and inverse opal structure were successfully prepared. PCs of inverse opal structure were used to examine their response characteristics to identify ethanol, exhibiting good performance. Our research may provide significant inspiration for the development of other sorts of microspheres.
二氧化硅微球（SMs）在制备光子晶体（PCs）以及其他材料（如微球参考材料等）时，必须具备理想的单分散性、窄粒度分布和高球形度等性能。我们从冰晶的形成机制中获得灵感，采用提高反应物浓度和升高温度的技术来提高SMs的合成速率。通过均匀成核制备出了粒径均匀（多分散指数小于0.05）且具有良好球形特征的SMs。进一步拟合了SMs粒径与反应物浓度之间的数学关系。通过F检验和验证实验验证了回归方程的高精度。通过SMs的自组装获得了具有密集堆积蛋白石结构的高度有序PCs（堆垛层错约为1.5%，点缺陷约为10）。此外，还成功制备了具有非密集堆积蛋白石结构和反蛋白石结构的高度有序PCs（堆垛层错约为3%，点缺陷约为10）。利用反蛋白石结构的PCs检测其对乙醇的响应特性，表现出良好的性能。我们的研究可能为其他类型微球的开发提供重要的启发。
