Synthesis of porous hollow silica spheres using polystyrene–methyl acrylic acid latex template at different temperatures Original Research Article

Porous hollow silica spheres were prepared by using polystyrene–methyl acrylic acid latex as a template and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a wall structure-directing agent starting from tetraethoxysilane. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FT-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption were used to characterize the hollow silica spheres. When silica-coated latex composites were prepared at room temperature, hollow silica spheres with micropores in the walls were formed after removing the latex templates by calcination. When silica-coated latex composites were aged at a higher temperature of 150 °C, intact mesoporous hollow silica spheres were formed after calcination treatment.