Effects of a protic ionic liquid on the reaction pathway during non-aqueous sol-gel synthesis of silica: a Raman spectroscopic investigation.

ABSTRACT: The reaction pathway during the formation of silica via a two-component "non-aqueou" sol-gel synthesis is studied by in situ time-resolved Raman spectroscopy. This synthetic route is followed with and without the addition of the protic ionic liquid 1-ethylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (C2HImTFSI) in order to investigate its effect on the reaction pathway. We demonstrate that Raman spectroscopy is suitable to discriminate between different silica intermediates, which are produced and consumed at different rates with respect to the point of gelation. We find that half-way to gelation monomers and shorter chains are the most abundant silica species, while the formation of silica rings strongly correlates to the sol-to-gel transition. Thus, curling up of linear chains is here

SUBMITTER: Martinelli A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4013642 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature