Template synthesis of SiO2 nanostructures

The use of template synthesis for fabricating nanostructured materials has been increasing owing to its flexibility to produce nanowires of a variety of compositions. The prepared tubules and fibrils can be composed of conductive polymers, semiconductors, carbon and other materials. Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies show that the nanostructures produced by tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) based sol-gel techniques within alumina membranes are predominantly composed of SiO2. Sol impregnation of submicron-sized alumina membranes followed by gelation of the sol and chemical dissolution of the membrane template can be used to fabricate nanostructured silica.