I'm attempting to homogeneously mix silica nano-particles in the range of 10nm within a silica gel. However, the silica particles tend to agglomerate into clusters of 100 nm and greater in size, which negatively impacts the final product. Ultrasonication was ineffective at this scale. Are there any decently effective mixing or de-agglomeration methods for particles and agglomerates of this scale? Will surfactants help?
Dear Brandon
You can disperse the nano-materials in a appropriate solvent followed by a vigorous sonication to break the agglomeration.
In addition, as you also mentioned, using of surfactant and in a better phrase, "compatibilizers" can be useful. even you can modify the surface of nano-particles to reduce the their surface energy to facilitate the quality of dispersion.
Good luck
Agglomerates can be disrupted by sonication. Aggregates cannot. Take a look at these:
Nov 11th, 2008. Dispersion and nanotechnology http://tinyurl.com/hpywsge
November 3rd, 2015 Adhesion and cohesion http://tinyurl.com/zwb2wlh
if the nanoparticle dispersion itself does not agglomerate then there is something wrong with your silica gel. Maybe it needs washing.
Whether the nano silica particles are added as powders? If already stabilized by surfactant, there is need of additional surfactant to prevent agglomeration. The agglomerate you observed is hard agglomerate. The powder to be added under sonication to the system to which surfactant has already been added.
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