Cho, So-Hye Park, Su Young Kim, Chansoo Choi, Pyuck-Pa Park, Jong-Ku 2024-01-20T10:33:34Z 2024-01-20T10:33:34Z 2021-09-05 2014-01-20 0927-7757 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/127214 Monodispersed spherical silica nanoparticles synthesized by the Stober process contain large amounts of impurities and adsorbed- and structural water which cause structural and thermal instability of the microspheres. Proper heat treatment was applied to remove the impurities and water endowing the particles with high thermal and structural stability suitable for post-processes. Intrinsic changes of asprepared silica particles during heat treatment at 550 C were thoroughly examined by TGA, FT-IR, SAXS, TEM and SEM characterization. The annealed silica particles became much more reliable building blocks for a self-assembled thin film, as evidenced by low crack/defect density in the fabricated film. In this paper, we provide a method of stabilizing silica particles and thereby aligning them into a close packed structure without macroscopic defects. This method is potentially useful for the delicate silica alignment for patterning and fabrication of high-quality photonic crystals adequate for optical switches, waveguides, lasers and antireflective films for solar cells. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. English ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV COLLOIDAL CRYSTALS SIZE SPECTROSCOPY FABRICATION FILMS Stabilization of monodispersed spherical silica particles and their alignment with reduced crack density Article 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2013.09.025 1 COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS, v.441, pp.354 - 359 COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS 441 354 359 scie scopus 000329260800046 2-s2.0-84885935601 Chemistry, Physical Chemistry Article COLLOIDAL CRYSTALS SIZE SPECTROSCOPY FABRICATION FILMS Monodispersed spherical silica Photonic crystal Heat treatment Crack density Alignment