Studies on the Formation of Organosilica Nanoparticles and Their Ability To Host Hydrophobic Substances

Journal article, 2008

Water-dispersible organosilica nanoparticles were synthesized using microemulsions and micellar solutions. Octadecyltrimethoxysilane (OTMS) was used as the silica source resulting in particles having a hydrophobic interior with the ability to host oil. The diameters of the formed particles could be varied between 60 and 200 nm, depending on the amount of added oil and OTMS. The size of the particles was determined using dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. Exchange-coupled diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance experiments were performed to study the exchange rates between the particles and the surrounding media. Triethylamine and tributylamine were used as probe molecules, and it was shown that they had longer mean residence times in the particles compared with in the bulk. Moreover, it was found that the mean residence time of the probe molecules increased significantly when the particles contained oil. The results also showed that the mean residence time of tributylamine was longer than that of triethylamine. Furthermore, by the use of UV-vis spectrophotometry, it was shown that the particles were able to take up benzophenone from water solutions.