A novel technique for preparing organophilic silica by water-in-oil microemulsions

A novel technique to prepare ultramicro spherical silica particles containing vinyl groups on their surfaces is presented. This process is a combination of the sol-gel technique and the water-in-oil microemulsion technique in which hydrolysis and condensation of TEOS [Si(OEt)4] and MPS (trimethoxysilylpropylmethacrylate) take place. Spherical silica particles with a size range from 20 to 70 nm were obtained and the surface concentrations of the double bonds per nm2 were from 4 to 7.