Arrays of electrodeposited silica nanowires (SiO2 NWs) have been fabricated over large areas (cm(2)) on fluoropolymer thin films attached to glass substrates by a combination of photolithography and electrochemically triggered sol-gel nanoscale deposition. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements revealed that the SiO2 NW arrays had an average spacing of ten micrometers and a...

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between alveolar macrophages (AMs) and crystalline silica (SiO2) using in vitro and in vivo immunotoxicity models; however, exactly how exposure to SiO2 alters the functionality of AM and the potential consequences for immunity to respiratory pathogens remains largely unknown. Because recognition and clearance of inhaled particulates and microbes ...

High-resolution noncontact atomic force microscopy of SiO2 reveals previously unresolved roughness at the few-nm length scale, and scanning tunneling microscopy of graphene on SiO2 shows graphene to be slightly smoother than the supporting SiO2 substrate. A quantitative energetic analysis explains the observed roughness of graphene on SiO2 as extrinsic, and a natural result of highly conformal ...

The characterization of mixed oxides of TiO2/SiO2 and TiO2/Al2O3 prepared by sol-gel methods is described. Application of the TiO2/Al2O3 material for the photocatalytic decomposition of salicylic acid gave improved activity relative to TiO2-only materials. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2/SiO2, TiO2/Al2O3, and TiO2 toward the photocatalytic decomposition of phenol demonstrated the enhancemen...

The Fe3O4/CeO2 magnetic photocatalyst was prepared by coating directly onto the surface of magnetic Fe3O4 particles. However a direct contact of CeO2 onto the surface of magnetic Fe3O4 particles presented unfavorable heterojunction, thus the SiO2 barrier layer between magnetic Fe3O4 and CeO2 was prepared as a core-shell stucture to reduce the negative effect by combining three steps of the hydr...

SiO2-TiO2 mixed oxides have been prepared by sol-gel technique from titanium tetraisopropoxide and tetraethylorthosilicate. The prepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen physisorption and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results indicate that compared to pure TiO2, the SiO2-TiO2 mixed oxides show higher the...

Ultrafine copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) within porous silica nanospheres (Cu@SiO2) were prepared via a simple one-pot synthetic route in a reverse micelle system and characterized by SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, CO-TPD, XPS, and ICP methods. The characterized results show that ultrafine Cu NPs with diameter of around 2 nm are effectively embedded in the center of well-proportio...

During fluorocarbon plasma etching of SiO2 , a polymer passivation layer is generally deposited on the surface of the wafer. The polymer layer regulates the etch by limiting the availability of activation energy and reactants, and providing the fuel for removal of oxygen. To investigate these processes, a surface reaction mechanism for fluorocarbon plasma etching of SiO2 has been developed. The...

In this paper, the Co@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles were prepared by the sol-gel method. The oxidization of Co core nanoparticles was studied by the synchrotron radiation-based techniques including in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) up to 800°C in air and N2 protection conditions, respectively. It was found that the oxidization of Co cores is undergoing t...