Sol-Gel Template-Free and Template-Structured Silica Films Functionalisation with Methylene Blue Dye and Ag Nanoparticles

摘要

Sol-gel derived silica films are promising for application as working elements of sensors for environment control. The goal of the present work was to examine the difference in the post-synthesis functionalisation of nanometer-scale silica films prepared on glass substrates via template and template-free sol-gel routes. The films were prepared by dip-coating from TEOS sol-gel precursor in the absence or presence of CTAB template. It has been found out that the template-structured silica films can be functionalised with Ag nanoparti-cles via [Ag(NH3)2]NO3 ion-exchange or with adsorbed Methylene Blue (MB) cationic dye due to the presence of the well-organised mesopores after template removal. In contrast, only the external geometric surface of the template-free silica films appeared to be accessible for modifier molecules.