Dependencies of Quartz Powder Formation on Gelation Time

The effect of the gelation time in the chemical reaction to change the phase from sol to gel on the gel and quartz powder states was investigated by observing the absorbance spectra of the gels and powders at wavenumbers of 500–4000 cm−1. In the case of the gel state, four peaks appeared in the absorbance spectrum, i.e., a broad OH stretching peak at 3000–3700 cm−1 derived from the OH group, an OH bending peak at ~1640 cm−1, an asymmetric Si−O−Si stretching (VasSi−O−Si) peak at ~1075 cm−1, and an asymmetric O−Si−O bending (VasO−Si−O) peak at ~520 cm−1. Among the four peaks, the peak intensity at ~1075 cm−1, VasSi−O−Si, gradually increased with the gelation time. The increase in the intensity of the VasSi−O−Si peak was because the Brownian motion of the sol molecules became active through high energy at a temperature of 60 °C, and polymerization occurred through the aggregation of SiO2 particles in an unstable state overtime during the gelation process after ion exchange. In other words, SiO2 monomers of the tetrahedral structure are gradually polymerized into Q1, Q2, and Qn in the gelation process to form a polymer chain. As they are polymerized, fluidity is lost, and a gel is formed instead of a sol. Therefore, since SiO2 polymer chains are formed as the gelation process time increases, the total number of Si−O−Si bonds in the sample increased, which resulted in a gradual increase in the intensity of VasSi−O−Si in the absorbance spectrum. If you are looking for high quality, high purity, and cost-effective Quartz powder, or if you require the latest price of Quartz powder, please feel free to email contact mis-asia.