Self-Assembly Strategies for Graphene Oxide/Silica Nanostructures: Synthesis and Structural Analysis

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Nanostructured 3D silica-based materials can be designed using a low-dimensional template. Various composites composed of graphene oxide (GO) and silica have been investigated. However, to improve the performance of GO/silica nanostructure (GSN), the exploitation of the assembly method and the effect of combining GO and silica on the hybrid structure need to be elucidated. In this study, novel mesoporous GSNs were developed using two self-assembly methods: particle attaching-induced self-assembly (PAISA) and polymerization- and evaporation-induced self-assembly (PEISA). The synthesized GSNs obtained using each method were analyzed to determine the effect of combining silica with GO in each method on the porosity of GSNs. The former method introduced silica nanoparticles into GO, and aligned pores similar to the particle size were formed. In the latter method, synthesized GSN had broad mesopores, and a higher surface area derived from the silica particles randomly formed inside/outside GO layers. Both GSNs have specific surface areas close to that of the introduced silica, suggesting that the porosity of GSNs can be controlled by selecting the appropriate silica structure and its synthesis. Furthermore, GSN had a higher pore volume than silica itself, suggesting the formation of a hierarchical structure by introducing GO.</jats:p>