Surfactant-assisted synthesis of helical silica

Amorphous helical silica was synthesized at room temperature from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) under the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in acidic conditions. The formation conditions of the silica helices were studied carefully. It was found that the reaction time and temperature, molar ratio of TEOS and CTAB and types of acids are crucial to the formation of helices.