• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.1534-1538
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• 2011

Uniform, hollow nanosilica spheres were prepared by the chemical coating of cationic polystyrene (cPS) with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), followed by calcination at 600 $^{\circ}C$ under air. cPS was synthesized by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization using 2,2'-azobis (2-methyl propionamidine) dihydrochloride as the cationic initiator, and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) as a stabilizer. The resulting cPS spheres were 280 nm in diameter, and showed monodispersion. After coating, the hollow silica product was spherically shaped, and 330 nm in diameter, with a narrow distribution of sizes. Dispersion was uniform. Wall thickness was 25 nm, and surface area was 96.4 $m^2/g$, as determined by BET. The uniformity of the wall thickness was strongly dependent upon the cPS surface charge. The effects of TEOS and ammonia concentrations on shape, size, wall thickness, and surface roughness of hollow $SiO_2$ spheres were investigated. We observed that the wall thicknesses of hollow $SiO_2$ spheres increased and that silica size was simultaneously enhanced with increases in TEOS concentrations. When ammonia concentrations were increased, the irregularity of rough surfaces and aggregation of spherical particles were more severe because higher concentrations of ammonia result in faster hydrolysis and condensation of TEOS. These changes caused the silica to grow faster, resulting in hollow $SiO_2$ spheres with irregular, rough surfaces.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2013

Monodispersed polystyrene latex spheres (PLS) and PS-MPS/silica composite nanospheres were used to test high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters. Prior to filter tests, all nanospheres used in this work were characterized by measuring their average particle diameters and coefficients of variation (CV) for assessing them as artificial dusts. The average particle sizes of PLS and composite nanospheres could be well controlled in the range of 100~300 nm well by changing reaction temperature and the amount of a stabilizer during emulsion polymerization. The CV of all nanospheres were also in the range of 3~7%, lower than 15% that is the criterion for monodispersed particle distributions. Furthermore the results of HEPA filter tests show that all nanospheres used were quite proper as artificial dusts for testing air filters.