Liquid Phase Deposition of Silica on the Hexagonally Close-Packed Monolayer of Silica Spheres
Figure 5
Schematic illustration depicting the mechanism of formation of nanostructure. (a) Hexagonally close-packed spheres in an aqueous solution. (b) Decrease in the size of silica spheres through homogeneous etching. (c) High concentration of silicic acid (blue) between the silica spheres. (d) Deposition of silica bridges between silica spheres. (e) Reduction of the nanostructure size due to etching. (f) Disappearance of the bridges.
