Abstract
Evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) of silica sol-gel ethanol-water solution mixtures with block-copolymer were studied inside uniform micro/nano channels. Nano-structured mesoporous silica wires, with various intra-wire self-assembly structures including lamellae, were prepared via EISA process but in space-confined channels with the diameter ranging from 50 nm to 200 nm. Membranes made of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) and track-etched polycarbonate (EPC) were utilized as the arrays of space-confined channels (i.e., 50, 100, and 200-nm EPC and 200-nm AAO) for infiltration and drying of mixture solutions; these substrate membranes were submerged in mixture solutions consisting of a silica precursor, a structure-directing agent, ethanol, and water. After the substrate channels were filled with the solution under vacuum impregnation, the membrane was removed from the solution and dried in air. The silica precursor used was tetra-ethyl othosilicate (TEOS), and the structure-directing agent employed was triblock copolymer Pluronic-123 (P123). It was found that the formation of the mesoporous nanostructures in silica wires within uniform channels were significantly affected by the synthesis conditions including (1) pre-assemble TEOS aging time, (2) the evaporation rate during the vacuum impregnation, and (3) the air-dry temperature. The obtained intra-wire structures, including 2D-hexagonal rods and lamellae, were studied by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). A steric hindrance effect seems to explain well the observed polymer-silica mesophase formation tailored by TEOS aging time. The evaporation effect, air-drying effect, and AAO-vs-EPC substrate effect on the mesoporous structure of the formed silica wires were also presented and discussed.