Synthesis of porous hollow silica spheres using polystyrene–methyl acrylic acid latex template at different temperatures

Porous hollow silica spheres were prepared by using polystyrene–methyl acrylic acid latex as a template and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a wall structure-directing agent starting from tetraethoxysilane. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FT-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption were used to characterize the hollow silica spheres. When silica-coated latex composites were prepared at room temperature, hollow silica spheres with micropores in the walls were formed after removing the latex templates by calcination. When silica-coated latex composites were aged at a higher temperature of 150 °C, intact mesoporous hollow silica spheres were formed after calcination treatment.