We report a sol-gel synthesis of monolithic three-dimensional GeO2 nanostructures (aerogels). Transmission electron microscopy shows that these ultralow-density (∼99.2% porous) nanostructures are formed by a continuous network of elongated amorphous GeO2 nanoligaments, ∼15–20nm in diameter and ∼50–200nm in length. As a result, monoliths exhibit a high surface area of ∼60m2g−1. A comparison of soft x-ray absorption spectra at GeL3 and OK edges with theoretical densities of states reveals that the electronic structure of aerogels is similar to that of hexagonal GeO2, indicating a (distorted) tetrahedral environment of Ge atoms in the amorphous nanostructure.
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Kucheyev et al. (2006) studied this question.
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