The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)-one of the two half-reactions in fuel cells-is one of the bottlenecks that has prevented fuel cells from finding a wide range of applications today. This is because ORR is inherently a sluggish reaction; it is also because inexpensive and sustainable ORR electrocatalysts that are not only efficient but also are based on earth-abundant elements are hard to com...

A facile approach has been developed to prepare ultra-small hybrid silica spheres with a diameter of ∼10 nm, which show highly enhanced penetration ability in 3D glioma spheroids compared to conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles.

The synthesis of mesoporous CuFe2O4 spinel by several nanocasting strategies (i.e., multi-step nanocasting, one step nanocasting, modified solid-liquid), in which copper and iron nitrates are used as precursors and Pluronic P123 as surfactant, is explored. We have also checked the effect of pH, citric acid and sodium citrate in multi-step nanocasting method. The modified solid-liquid method whi...

We used periodic mesoporous silica particles for molecular imprinting. The imprinted silica particles showed fast kinetic binding for the template due to their nanosized wall thickness and high surface area.

The self-complexation of mono-benzimidazole functionalized β-cyclodextrins was investigated. The unique molecular structure employed as supramolecular nanovalves were installed on the external surface of mesoporous silica to assemble mechanized silica nanoparticles, which showed pH-triggered release property.

A relatively new mesoporous silica sorbent for environmental protection applications (i.e., mesoporous spherical-silica particles [MSPs]), was modified by N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylenediamine (EDA) solution and was tested for its potential in the separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas. The CO2 adsorption capacity of MSP and MSP (EDA) increased with temperature from 20 to 60 de...

New hybrid oligonucleotide-capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles able to detect genomic DNA were designed.

Branched left-handed twisted mesoporous silica nanoribbons were prepared via a template method.

A novel confined-space synthesis method has been developed to synthesize zeolite nanocrystals. Colloidal silica nanoparticles serving as the silica source as well as the hard template were embedded in the mesoporous carbon via in situ polymerization of furfuryl alcohol (FA) in the presence of tri-block copolymer (Pluronic P123), and then reacted with an alkaline aqueous solution (Na2O-Al2O3-H2O...

In the past, helical shapes in nature have inspired inventions such as the water screw for agriculture, the retaining screw for wine presses, and architectural designs for spiral staircases. Similarly, these days helix-shaped DNA, proteins and carbon nanotubes evoke great interest in biotechnology and nanotechnology. Also biomimetic synthesis of helical morphologies of calcium carbonate, barium...