In this paper, in order to improve the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells, we introduced zirconia [ZrO2] nanofibers into a mesoporous titania [TiO2] photoelectrode. The photoelectrode consists of a few weight percent of ZrO2 nanofibers and a mesoporous TiO2 powder. The mixed ZrO2 nanofibers and the mesoporous TiO2 powder possessed a larger surface area than the corresponding mesoporous Ti...

Bioactive mesoporous diopside (m-DP) and poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) composite scaffolds with mesoporous/macroporous structure were prepared by the solution-casting and particulate-leaching method. The results demonstrated that the degradability and bioactivity of the mesoporous/macroporous scaffolds were significantly improved by incorporating m-DP into PLLA, and that the improvement was m-DP conte...

Drug molecules with lack of specificity and solubility lead patients to take high doses of the drug to achieve sufficient therapeutic effects. This is a leading cause of adverse drug reactions, particularly for drugs with narrow therapeutic window or cytotoxic chemotherapeutics. To address these problems, there are various functional biocompatible drug carriers available in the market, which ca...

Poly(alkylene oxide)-type block copolymers have been recently shown to be particularly versatile as structure-directing agents for the preparation of ordered large-pore mesoporous silica materials. In principle, the structure direction is achieved through the formation of periodic supramolecular self-assemblies between the polymeric surfactants and a silica source in the aqueous solution. The o...

Recently, transition metal oxides, such as ruthenium oxide (RuO₂), manganese dioxide (MnO₂), nickel oxides (NiO) and cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄), have been widely investigated as electrode materials for pseudo-capacitors. In particular, these metal oxides with mesoporous structures have become very hot nanomaterials in the field of supercapacitors owing to their large specific surface areas and suitab...

Mesoporous, micro/nanosized TiO2/C composites with uniformly dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix have been rationally designed and synthesized. In brief, TiO2 precursor was infiltrated into the channels of surface-oxidized mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) by means of electrostatic interaction, followed by in situ hydrolysis and growth of TiO2 nanocrystallites, resulting in ultrafi...

Room-temperature phosphorescence has been observed and studied on metal-activator-free mesoporous silica. The mesoporous silica was prepared using a nonionic triblock copolymer as the mesostructure-directing agent. The as-calcined products have a well-ordered porous structure and exhibit strong phosphorescence under ultraviolet light excitation. The luminescence spectra are featured with severa...

The electrochemical performance and electrode reaction using AuePd nanoparticle (NP) supported mesoporous b-MnO2 as a cathode catalyst for rechargeable Lithium-Air (Li-Air) battery is reported here for the first time. In this study, AuePd NP-supported mesoporous b-MnO2 was successfully synthesized by hydrothermal process using a silica KIT-6 template. It has an initial discharge capacity of ca....

The surface of mercapto-functionalized mesoporous silica having a highly ordered open pore network was modified into a super-hydrophilic surface through a stepwise sulfonation process involving oxidation and ionization reactions. The initial mesoporous silica was prepared using an acid-catalyzed sol-gel reaction between tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) in th...

Hierarchically structured membranes composed of mesoporous silica embedded inside the channels of anodic alumina (MS-AAM) were synthesized using the aspiration method. Ethanol is shown to have a significant effect on the type and organization of the mesoporous silica phase. Detailed textural analysis revealed that the pore size distribution of the mesoporous silica narrows and the degree of ord...