Stability of PS opals in supercritical carbon dioxide and synthesis of silica inverse opals

Abstract

Recently, the synthesis of ordered macroporous materials has received much attention due to its potential use as photonic band gap materials.1 In this study, we have used the three-dimensional (3D) latex array template impregnated with benzenesulfonic acid (BSA), which is capable of catalyzing the reaction using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor and distilled water. The polystyrene (PS) templates were reacted with TEOS in scCO2 at 40 °C and at 80 bar. In the reactor, TEOS was filtrated into the PS particle lattice. After the reaction, porous silica materials were obtained by calcinations of the template. The stability test of the PS template in pure CO2 was conducted before the main experiment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the reaction in scCO2 takes place only on the particle surface. This new method using scCO2 has advantages over conventional sol-gel processes in its capability to control the fluid properties such as viscosity and interfacial tension. It has been found that the reaction in scCO2 occurs only on the particle surface, making the proposed technique as more rapid and sustainable method of synthesizing inverse opal materials than conventional coating processes in the liquid phase and in the vapor phase.