Mesoporous structured silica particles are silicates with well-defined pore systems which exhibit uniform pore diameters between 2 nm and 50 nm, narrow pore size distributions and high specific surface areas that may exceed
1000 m2 g-1. The internal surface is defined as the surface of pore walls, while the external surface represents the surface outside the pores. Mesoporous materials can be selectively modified via various in-situ and post-synthetic methods. The incorporation of different functionalities offers great potential for numerous applications, including catalysis, separation, drug delivery and as sensors. For the purpose of this master’s thesis, mesoporous SiO2 particles were synthesized and analysed in order to assess their potential application for indicating relative humidity. The effect of external surface methylation on the adsorption of water and dissolution of dye (thus causing a change in color) was studied in three different types of mesoporous silica particles with varying pore diameters and integrated with dye. When mesoporous materials are exposed to a certain relative humidity, water molecules adsorb on the surface of the silica particles, initially forming a monolayer-multilayer film. At a specific relative humidity and appropriate pore diameter, capillary condensation occurs, causing a significant increase in the amount of adsorbed water. Water vapour isotherms of samples were determined by gravimetric method. The colour change was evaluated by means of colorimetry. The morphological properties of prepared samples were determined by transmission electron microscopy, pore size distribution and specific surface area by means of nitrogen sorption and functional groups using FT-IR spectroscopy. It was observed that capillary condensation occurs at a higher relative humidity when the pore diameter is larger, yet the total change in colour of unfunctionalized silica samples was not related to the adsorption isotherms of water. The main reason for this is most likely the influence of water, which is adsorbed on the external surface of the material and thus affects the dissolution of dye. However, after selective functionalization of mesoporous SiO2 with varying pore diameters, the capillary-condensed water inside the pores caused the dye to dissolve and consequently the greatest colour change only occurred above a certain level of relative humidity. This occurred at 85 % relative humidity for particles with the smallest pore diameters, compared to 92 % for the largest.
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