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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
A microstructural study on surfactant templated silica films is performed by coupling traditional X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM) to Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (GISAXS). By this method it is shown that spin-coating of silicate solutions with cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a templating agent provides 3D hexagonal structure (space group P63/mmc) that is no longer compatible with the often described hexagonal arrangement of tubular micelles but rather with an hexagonal arrangement of spherical micelles. The extent of the hexagonal ordering and the texture can be optimized in films by varying the composition of the solution.