Preparation of nanoparticles: The microemulsion nanoreactor approach

The availability of nanosize colloidal particles (1-100nm) with tailored properties is critical to the development of high performance materials in many areas of modern technology. A promising approach to the synthesis of such materials is to constrain the reactor size to match the required nanodimensionality. Microemubions, compartmentalized fluids characterized by surfactant-stabilized nanosize domains of the type water-in-oil (w/o), oil-in-water (o/w), or bicontinuous, represent convenient vehicles for exploring the nanoreactor concept. In this presentation, metal oxides (including silica) are used as model materials to examine the effects of microemulsion properties and synthesis protocols on particle evolution and characteristics.