Cubic (Im3[combining macron]m) mesoporous silica nanofibers were successfully prepared using a new F127-PVA-SiO2 tri-constituent assembly approach by the electrospinning technique. PVA was used to protect the F127 directed cubic micelles which usually deform during electrospinning. The preformed Au NPs can be loaded inside the mesopores of the nanofibers.

The phenylthiourea-substituted triethoxysilane as a silane agent was synthesized and grafted on highly ordered nanoporous silica (LUS- 1) with a textured morphology and hexagonal array. This material (Tu-LUS-1) contained 0.8 mmol/g of soft base phenylthiourea group and surface area 760 m2 g-1  and was able to adsorb 0.75 mmolHg/g of TU-LUS-1 in endothermic reaction.