Microscopic structure of nanometer-sized silica particles

We have studied the structure of nanometer-sized silica particles called fumed silica, which is a synthetic amorphous silicon dioxide produced by burning silicon tetrachloride in an oxygen-hydrogen flame, using infrared and Raman spectroscopies and a high-energy x-ray diffraction method. It has been demonstrated that the structure of fumed silica is not identical to that of the normal bulk silica glass in terms especially of the distribution of the size of silica rings. Three- and four-membered rings are more frequent in fumed silica than in the bulk silica glass. It has also been shown that the network structure of fumed silica is more flexible than that of the bulk one, probably explaining the reason why fumed silica can accommodate a large number of three- and four-membered rings in the structure.