Reaction-Induced Microsyneresis in Oxide-Based Gels:
The Assembly of Hierarchical Microsphere Networks
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Abstract
Rigid
and stable networks composed of litchi-shaped microspheres were formed
via hierarchical self-assembly (SA) of oxide-based nanoparticles (NPs).
The phenomenon of the apparent changes from NPs networks to microspheres
networks after the gelation was similar to normal microsyneresis.
However, in-situ composition evolution results indicate that the SA
is driven by interparticle dehydration, but not affinity difference
between the network for itself and for the solvent. In-situ small-angle
X-ray scattering (SAXS), UV–vis–NIR, and electric conductivity
were used to study the microsyneresis process. To further demonstrate
the mechanism, extra complexant was added and successfully restrained
the NPs–microsphere transition by inactivating the surface
hydroxyl of the NPs. Considering the structural similarity, this work
may provide a new approach to control the assemblies of diverse oxide-based
NPs