Silica aerogel microspheres based on alkali silica sol were synthesized using the emulsion method. The experimental results revealed that the silica aerogel microspheres (4-20 µm in diameter) were mesoporous solids with an average pore diameter ranging from 6 to 35 nm. The tapping densities and specific surface areas of the aerogel microspheres are in the range of 0.112-0.287 g/cm³ and 207.5-66...

Numerous luminophores may be encapsulated into silica nanoparticles (< 100 nm) using the reverse microemulsion process. Nevertheless, the behaviour and effect of such luminescent molecules appear to have been much less studied and may possibly prevent the encapsulation process from occurring. Such nanospheres represent attractive nanoplatforms for the development of biotargeted biocompatible lu...

The processing conditions for preparing well dispersed silica-graphene nanoplatelets and silica-graphene oxide nanoplatelets (GONP) composites were optimized using powder and colloidal processing routes. Fully dense silica-GONP composites with up to 2.5 vol% loading were consolidated using spark plasma sintering. The GONP aligned perpendicularly to the applied pressure during sintering. The fra...

We report a simple and rapid method for the deposition of amorphous silica onto a gold surface. The method is based on the ability of lysozyme to mediate the formation of silica nanoparticles. A monolayer of lysozyme is deposited via non-specific binding to gold. The lysozyme then mediates the self-assembled formation of a silica monolayer. The silica formation described herein occurs on a surf...

Mid-infrared spectra of a few T Tauri stars (TTS) taken with the Infrared Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope show prominent narrow emission features indicating silica (crystalline silicon dioxide). Silica is not a major constituent of the interstellar medium; therefore, any silica present in the circumstellar protoplanetary disks of TTS must be largely the result of processing of...

We describe the synthesis and the physical properties of suspensions of colloidal silicon and silica rodlike particles. In addition to pure silicon and pure silica rods, we have also synthesized silicon rods with a silica shell and silica rods with a fluorescent silica layer. Pre-patterned p-type (100) silicon wafers were electrochemically etched in electrolyte solutions containing hydrogen flu...

A novel nanoarchitecture-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposite was prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-grafted silica nanohybrids as reinforcements. MWCNT-grafted silica nanohybrids were synthesized by the generation of silica nanoparticles on the MWCNT surface through the sol-gel technique. This synthetic method involves organo-modified MWCNTs that are dispersed in t...

Evaporation of silica-rich geothermal waters is one of the main abiotic drivers of the formation of silica sinters around hot springs. An important role in sinter structural development is also played by the indigenous microbial communities, which are fossilized and eventually encased in the silica matrix. The combination of these two factors results in a wide variety of sinter structures and f...

To estimate the quantitative relation between exposure to respirable silica dust and risk of an attack of silicosis, 1151 workers exposed to silica dust and employed from 1958 to 1987 in a tungsten mine in China were investigated. The results showed that the ratio of respirable silica dust concentration to total silica dust concentration was 0.529. Then, the total silica dust concentration in h...

[1] High‐silica materials have been observed on Mars, both from orbit by the CRISM spectrometer and in situ by the Spirit rover at Gusev Crater. These observations potentially imply a wet, geologically active Martian surface. To understand silica formation on Mars, it is useful to study analogous terrestrial silica deposits. We studied silica coatings that occur on the 1974 Kilauea flow in the ...