Synthesis of silica nanocubes by sol-gel method

A novel approach was employed in the fabrication of silica nanocubes with controlled size and shape. The silica nanocubes were highly dispersed with width of about 30 nm and product with high purity. A small amount of tartaric acid was introduced in the TEOS hydrolysis process. In this work tartaric acid as the organic template, was formed on the surface of hydrous silica colloidal particles. The organic template ordered by carboxyl, led to the self-assembly of amorphous silica sol encapsulated into cubic matrixes, and the organic template was packed into 3D structure. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.