Controllability of pore size on macroporous sol-gel silica films embedding rhodamine 6G

Abstract

A facile method is reported to synthesize macroporous silica films embedding rhodamine 6G. The films were obtained by sol-gel and spin-coating processes. Results pointed out a dependence of pore formation on the addition of rhodamine 6G in the film composition. The probable formation process of the pores was attributed to the aggregation of charged species from rhodamine 6G. Although the pores were randomly distributed on the film surface, the pore size was tuned at certain extent by controlling the evaporation and condensation rates at early stages of spin coating. Results indicated that the evaporation rate determined the pore size distribution of the films.