(588a) One-Dimensional Alignment of Monodispersed Silica Nanospheres with Block Copolymer

Monodispersed silica nanospheres can be synthesized by hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in the presence of basic amino acids as catalyst. To fully realize their potential as new materials, these nanoparticles need to be fabricated into ordered arrays or predesigned structures. We have developed a very simple method of fabricating one-dimensionally aligned silica nanospheres in size of 15 nm by mixing with poly(ethyleneoxide) - poly(propylene oxide- poly(ethylene oxide)- type triblock copolymer. The average number of connected particles and the connecting pattern can be easily tuned by controlling the experimental conditions such as the pH, the temperature and the heating time. The details of the experiments as well as the formation mechanism will be reported in the presentation.