During evolution, living organisms have learned to design biomolecules exhibiting self-assembly properties to build-up materials with complex organizations. This is particularly evidenced by the delicate siliceous structures of diatoms and sponges. These structures have been considered as inspiration sources for the preparation of nanoscale and nanostructured silica-based materials templated by...

A series of derivatized azobenzene molecules are synthesized such that one of the phenyl groups can be chemically bonded to mesostructured silica and the other, derivatized with dendrons, is free to undergo large-amplitude light-driven motion. The silica frameworks on which the motion takes place are either 150 nm thick films containing ordered hexagonal arrays of tubes (inner diameter about 2 ...

The layers and sublayers of primary visual cortex, or V1, in primates are easily distinguishable compared to those in other cortical areas, and are especially distinct in anthropoid primates - monkeys, apes, and humans - where they also vary in histological appearance. This variation in primate-specific specialization has led to a longstanding confusion over the identity of layer 4 and its prop...

While exhibiting a well-defined nanometer-level structure, surfactant-templated nanoscopic silicas produced via self-assembly do not always possess long-range order. We demonstrate that long-range order can be controlled by guiding the self-assembly of nanostructured silica-surfactant hybrids with low-strength electric fields (E approximately 200 V/m) to produce nanoscopic silica with both the ...

We compare the methods of continuous solvent (Soxhlet) and supercritical solvent extractions for the removal of the organic template from nanostructured silica monoliths. Our monoliths are formed by templating the L3 liquid crystal phase of cetylpyridinium chloride in aqueous solutions with tetramethoxy silane. The monoliths that result from both Soxhlet and supercritical extraction methods are...

The synthesis of highly-crystalline porous TiO(2) microspheres is reported using ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) in the presence of colloidal silica as a template. We have exploited the interactions between hot SiO(2) template particles surface and TiO(2) precursor that occur during reaction inside the droplets, to control the physical and chemical properties of the resulting particles. Varyin...

We describe current and possible future developments in nanotechnology for biological and medical applications. Nanostructured, composite materials for drug delivery, biosensors, diagnostics and tumor therapy are reviewed as examples, placing special emphasis on silica composites. Carbon nanotubes are discussed as a primary example of emerging nanomaterials for many of the above-mentioned appli...

We introduce a "double direct templating" method for obtaining hollow microspheres with periodically nanostructured walls. Silica or polystyrene colloids are dispersed in a self-assembled hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystal containing precursors for ZnS. The semiconductor ZnS mineralizes on the surface of the colloid, expressing a pore morphology that is a copy of the structure of the liquid cry...