The solubility of hydrogen in amorphous silica at a temperature of 250 °C and pressures up to 75 kbar is studied using a quenching technique. The molar ratio H(2)/SiO(2) is found to linearly increase with pressure from X = 0.16 at P = 6 kbar to X = 0.53 at P = 75 kbar. An investigation of a sample with X = 0.47 by Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that hydrogen dissolves in silica in the form of ...

The Mars rover Spirit encountered outcrops and regolith composed of opaline silica (amorphous SiO2·nH2O) in an ancient volcanic hydrothermal setting in Gusev crater. An origin via either fumarole-related acid-sulfate leaching or precipitation from hot spring fluids was suggested previously. However, the potential significance of the characteristic nodular and mm-scale digitate opaline silica st...

Uniform silica nanoparticles and jellyfish-like nanowires were synthesized by a chemical vapour deposition method on Si substrates treated without and with Ni(NO3)2, using silicon powder as the source material. Composition and structural characterization using field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and fourier-transfor...

Two tungsten disulfide (WS₂)-based core-shell nanocomposites were fabricated using readily available reagents and simple procedures. The surface was pre-treated with a surfactant couple in a layer-by-layer approach, enabling good dispersion of the WS₂ nanostructures in aqueous media and providing a template for the polymerization of a silica (SiO₂) shell. After a Stöber-like reaction, a conform...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of noxious effects of amorphous silica nanoparticles on human endothelial cells. METHODS Nanoparticle uptake was examined by transmission electron microscopy. Electrochemical nanosensors were used to measure the nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) released by a single cell upon nanoparticle stimulation. The downst...

Tridymite, a low-pressure, high-temperature (>870 °C) SiO2 polymorph, was detected in a drill sample of laminated mudstone (Buckskin) at Marias Pass in Gale crater, Mars, by the Chemistry and Mineralogy X-ray diffraction instrument onboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity The tridymitic mudstone has ∼40 wt.% crystalline and ∼60 wt.% X-ray amorphous material and a bulk composition wit...

Silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) have found extensive applications in industrial manufacturing, biomedical and biotechnological fields. Therefore, the increasing exposure to such ultrafine particles requires studies to characterize their potential cytotoxic effects in order to provide exhaustive information to assess the impact of nanomaterials on human health. The understanding of the biologi...

silica exists in rice husk, an agriculture waste, as a naturally occurring phase. in first step, acidic pre-treatment and calcination of the rice husk were performed to obtain nano-silica, in which various sizes of the nano-silica, totally with sizes under 80 nm, were achieved. second, to reduce nano-silica to elemental si and subsequently formation of the composite, mg used as the reducing age...

Anomalously high thermal expansion is measured in water confined in nanoscale pores in amorphous silica and the molecular mechanisms are identified by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using an accurate dissociative water potential. The experimentally measured coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of nanoconfined water increases as pore dimension decreases. The simulations match this behavio...

The development of synthetic process for hollow silica materials is an issue of considerable topical interest. While a number of chemical routes are available and are extensively used, the diameter of hollow silica often large than 50 nm. Here, we report on a facial route to synthesis ultrafine hollow silica nanoparticles (the diameter of ca. 24 nm) with high surface area by using cetyltrimethy...