Nanotechnology is applicable to a wide range of fields, including environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, and compound identification. This research works to develop a sensor structure composed of silica nanoparticles for detecting organic compounds in water. These silica nanoparticle crystals can also be used in photonics, separations, and filtration. Silica nanoparticle crystalline structures can be formed through spin-coating particles suspended in a solvent onto a substrate. This process relies on several factors to ensure the deposition of nanoparticle layers with few irregularities. Recent research investigated sonication, substrate cleaning methods, and some spin parameters on deposition quality. The key to determining whether a set of conditions was optimal is establishing empirical measures of quality. Two objective measurement techniques were designed to assess nanoparticle crystal quality, focusing on optical homogeneity and opacity. This standardized assessment was used to confirm previous optimizations and to develop other parameters of the spin coating method, including spin speed, time intervals between deposition steps, and the number of deposition layers. Future work will continue optimizing deposition parameters such as deposition solvent conditions and particle size and shape. Ultimately, the standardized assessment tools and the improved deposition procedures will be integral in generating high uniformity silica crystalline structures fit for sensor technology.

Standardizing analytical methods and deposition conditions to form silica nanoparticle crystals

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.