Influence of the dispersion medium type in the sol-gel synthesis of silicon dioxide

The production of monodisperse inorganic nanoparticles attracts the attention of researchers around the world due to their potential importance in practical applications in the field of optical devices, catalysts, drug delivery, fillers for polymers, etc. One such material is silicon dioxide, which serves as the basis for a huge number of nanocomposites. In this regard, the aim of this work is to study the effect of the type of dispersion medium on the synthesis of nanosized SiO₂. The paper presents the results of an investigation of the influence of the type of solvent on the morphology, the structure and size of silicon dioxide particles synthesized by sol-gel method. It was found that the type of solvent significantly affects the shape, size of the particles, their aggregation and stability. The particles of SiO₂ synthesized by the Stober method are monodisperse and X-ray amorphous regardless of the type of solvent and contain a significant amount of adsorbed molecules of alcohols and water.