Natural systems excel in directing the synthesis of inorganic materials for various functional purposes. One of the best-studied systems is silica synthesis, as occurs in diatoms and marine sponges. Various biological and synthetic polymers have been shown to template and catalyze silica formation from silicic acid precursors. Here, we describe the use of poly-L-lysine to promote the synthesis ...

Pd nanoparticles were successfully introduced into the channels of mesoporous silica MCM-41 with their dispersion well-tuned. We identified the dual role played by CTAB, which was critical for both the micelle template and Pd grafting, leading to the formation of a highly active Pd-MCM-41 nanocomposite for catalysing the Suzuki reaction.

Mesoporous templated MCM-48 silica was prepared using a C16 surfactant as template. The MCM-48 powders and thin films were characterized by different techniques. Two types of porous supports were used, namely macroporous α-alumina and silicon microsieves. The supported MCM-48 layers were applied as liquid permeable membranes in pressure-driven nanofiltration and electric field-mediated ion tran...

Plugged mesoporous SBA-15 having a 2-D hexagonal pore structure could be directly synthesized under acidic conditions using P123 as a supramolecular template, sodium metasilicate and alcoholamines. The use of alcoholamines seemed to play roles as capturing agents for silica sources that could form internal porous plugs.

Highly ordered three-dimensional Im3m-type periodic mesoporous organosilica with a cavity size of 9.8 nm has been synthesized under strongly acidic media in the presence of inorganic salts using triblock copolymer F127 as the template and 1,2-bis(trimethoxysilyl)ethane as the organically bridged silica source.

Template-derived carbon is demonstrated to effectively promote the creation of strong basicity on mesoporous silica, for the first time. New materials owning ordered mesoporous structure, strong basicity, and excellent catalytic activity are thus successfully constructed at low temperatures, which are impossible to achieve using conventional methods.

Hybrid silica nanotubes with chiral aromatic rings in the walls were prepared using self-assemblies of a low molecular weight amphiphile as a template; transmission electron microscopy images of the nanotubes at different formation steps showed that the co-structure-directing agent plays an important role in this chiral transfer.

The precise pore sizes defined by crystalline zeolite lattices have led to intensive research on zeolite membranes. Unfortunately, zeolites have been extremely difficult to prepare in a defect-free thin film form needed for membrane flux and selectivity. We introduced tetrapropylammonium (TPA), a structure-directing agent for zeolite ZSM-5, into a silica sol and exploit the development of high ...

During last years the interest for nanotechnology and mesoporous silica materials has increased due to benefits that these materials can provide. Typical characteristics of mesoporous materials are a large surface area and pore volume, well-ordered and uniform pores with adjustable pores between 2 and 50 nm. Pore dimensions are comparable to many biological molecules, like enzymes, and may ther...

’ INTRODUCTION Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes, hollow nanotubes have attracted considerable attention due to their functional significance and potential applications in nanoscale devices, sensors, and energy storage/conversion. In particular, silica nanotubes raise special interest because of their biocompatibility, confined environment as nanocontainers, and feasibility of chemical mo...