Structure and Bottom-up Formation Mechanism of Multisheet Silica-Based Nanoparticles Formed in an Epoxy Matrix through an In Situ Process.

Organic/inorganic hybrid composite materials with the dispersed phases in sizes down to a few tens of nanometers raised very great interest. In this paper, it is shown that silica/epoxy nanocomposites with a silica content of 6 wt % may be obtained with an "in situ" sol-gel procedure starting from two precursors: tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES). APTES also played the role of a coupling agent. The use of advanced techniques (bright-field high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, HRTEM, and combined small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) performed by means of a multirange device Ganesha 300 XL+) allowed us to evidence a multisheet structure of the nanoparticles instead of the gel one typically obtained through a sol-gel route. A mechanism combining in a new manner well-assessed knowledge regarding sol-gel chemistry, emulsion formation, and Ostwald ripening allowed us to give an explanation for the formation of the observed lamellar nanoparticles.