TY - JOUR
T1 - Time-resolved investigation of mesoporous silica microsphere formation using in situ heating optical microscopy
AU - Fijneman, Andreas J.
AU - Heinrichs, Jason M.J.J.
AU - van Leuken, Stijn H.M.
AU - de With, Gijsbertus
AU - Friedrich, Heiner
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - A fundamental understanding of the drying behavior of droplets containing solids or solutes is important for various industrial applications. However, droplets are typically highly polydisperse and time-resolved imaging data of the process dynamics are often lacking, which makes it difficult to interpret the effects of different drying parameters. Here, the controlled drying of monodisperse emulsion droplets containing colloidal silica nanoparticles and their subsequent assembly into mesoporous silica microspheres (MSMs) is investigated using an optical microscope outfitted with a heating and vacuum stage. Quantitative imaging results on droplet shrinkage and observed contrast are compared with a theoretical mass-transfer model that is based on the droplet number density, solvent characteristics and temperature. The results presented here provide key insights in the time-resolved formation of MSMs and will enable an optimized direct synthesis of monodisperse MSMs for separation applications and beyond.
AB - A fundamental understanding of the drying behavior of droplets containing solids or solutes is important for various industrial applications. However, droplets are typically highly polydisperse and time-resolved imaging data of the process dynamics are often lacking, which makes it difficult to interpret the effects of different drying parameters. Here, the controlled drying of monodisperse emulsion droplets containing colloidal silica nanoparticles and their subsequent assembly into mesoporous silica microspheres (MSMs) is investigated using an optical microscope outfitted with a heating and vacuum stage. Quantitative imaging results on droplet shrinkage and observed contrast are compared with a theoretical mass-transfer model that is based on the droplet number density, solvent characteristics and temperature. The results presented here provide key insights in the time-resolved formation of MSMs and will enable an optimized direct synthesis of monodisperse MSMs for separation applications and beyond.
KW - Droplet drying kinetics
KW - Droplet microfluidics
KW - In situ optical microscopy
KW - Mass-transfer model
KW - Mesoporous silica
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097330607&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.087
DO - 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.087
M3 - Article
C2 - 33279693
AN - SCOPUS:85097330607
VL - 585
SP - 118
EP - 125
JO - Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
JF - Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
SN - 0021-9797
ER -