Large-scale SiO2 hollow nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel method. The composition, morphology, and chemical bonding information of SiO2 hollow nanoparticles were studied by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). XANES at the Si L-edge and K-edge reveal the characteristics of hollow nanoparticles, which are essentially amorphous SiO2 with a slightly longer Si–O bond than SiO2 nanoparticles on average and deficiencies in oxygen. Individual SiO2 hollow spheres were also examined using STXM, which provides spectromicroscopic information, as well as the absolute thickness, of the sample.
Comment on “Insights into the Nature of the Chemical Bonding in Thiophene-2-thiol from X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy”