X-ray analysis of mesoporous silica thin films templated by Brij58 surfactant

The structural optimization of highly mesoporous silica thin film templated with Brij58 is reported in this paper. The best conditions for obtaining well organized films are studied as a function of the concentration of surfactant, the relative humidity (RH) and the aging time of the solutions used in the dip-coating process. We first show on the basis of the results obtained by small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments on the binary system Brij58/water that the structure of the films determined by grazing incidence (GI) SAXS experiments can be explained according to a specific equation involving the initial masses of the sol constituents. Then the structural properties of the films are investigated by x-ray reflectivity (XRR) and GISAXS before and after removing the surfactant. The mesoporosities and morphology of the films are determined by analyzing the reflectivity curves of the highly ordered silica thin films in the cubic phase.