Understanding the nature of hydrophobicity has fundamental importance in environmental applications. Using spherical silica nanoparticles (diameter = 369 ± 7 nm) as the model material, the current study investigates the relationship between the alkyl chain network and hydro-phobicity. Two alkyl silanes with different chain length (triethoxymethylsilane (C1) vs. trimethoxy(octyl)silane (C8)) were utilised separately for the functionalisation of the nanoparticles. Water contact angle and inverse gas chromatography results show that the alkyl chain length is essential for controlling hydrophobicity, as the octyl-functionalised nanoparticles were highly hydrophobic (water contact angle = 150.6° ± 6.6°), whereas the methyl-functionalised nanoparticles were hydrophilic (i.e., water contact angle = 0°, similar to the pristine nanoparticles). The homogeneity of the octyl-chain network also has a significant effect on hydrophobicity, as the water contact angle was reduced significantly from 148.4° ± 3.5° to 30.5° ± 1.0° with a methyl-/octyl-silane mixture (ratio = 160:40 µL·g⁻¹ nanoparticles).

理解疏水性的性质在环境应用中具有根本的重要性。使用球形二氧化硅纳米颗粒（直径= 369±7 nm）作为模型材料，当前的研究研究了烷基链网络与疏水性之间的关系。具有不同链长的两个烷基硅烷（三乙氧基甲基硅烷（C1）与三甲氧基（辛基）硅烷（C8））分别用于纳米粒子的功能化。水接触角和反相气相色谱结果表明，烷基链长度对于控制疏水性至关重要，因为辛基官能化的纳米颗粒具有高度疏水性（水接触角= 150.6°±6.6°），而甲基官能化的纳米颗粒具有亲水性（即，水接触角= 0°，类似于原始的纳米颗粒。^-1纳米颗粒）。