In situsynthesis of silica gel nanowire/Na+–montmorillonite nanocomposites by the sol–gel route

Silica-gel nanowire/Na+–montmorillonite (Na+–MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by the in situ sol–gel process of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in the presence of Na+–MMT and ammonia as catalyst. Microstructure characterization of the nanocomposites was done by SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD and FTIR. It was found that a lot of silica-gel nanowires grew along the edges of Na+–MMT. The combination between the nanowires and Na+–MMT was accomplished via polycondensation of the hydrolyzed TEOS and the edge –OH groups of Na+–MMT.