Polyacrylate/silica nanocomposite was prepared by sol–gel process via in situ emulsion polymerization. The influence of the synthetic conditions, such as the ratio of different monomers and the contents of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), c-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (Z-6030), diethanolamine (DAM) and ammonium persulfate (APS) on the physical mechanical properties of polyacrylate/silica nanoco...

A new interfacial nano and molecular imprinting approach is developed to prepare spherical molecularly imprinted polymers with well-controlled hierarchical structures. This method is based on Pickering emulsion polymerization using template-modified colloidal particles. The interfacial imprinting is carried out in particle-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions, where the molecular template is prese...

This work describes a novel and scalable colloid chemistry strategy to fabricate gold semishells based on the selective growth of gold on Janus silica particles (500 nm in diameter) partly functionalized with amino groups. The modulation of the geometry of the Janus silica particles allows us to tune the final morphology of the gold semishells. This method also provides a route to fabricating h...

Hollow mesoporous silica spheres have recently attracted increasing attention. However, effective synthesis of uniform hollow mesoporous spheres with controllable well-defined pore structures for fundamental research and practical applications has remained a significant challenge. In this work, a straightforward and effective "cationic surfactant assisted selective etching" synthetic strategy w...

A novel procedure based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/silica reinforced hollow fibre solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been developed to analyse trace phthalate acid esters in beverage and alcoholic samples. Because of their excellent adsorption capability towards hydrophobic compounds, functionalized MWCNTs, acting as solid-phase sor...

The development of theranostic mesoporous hollow silica nanospheres having therapeutic and diagnostic functions has been achieved. The exterior surface of the hollow mesoporous silica nanosphere was selectively acid functionalized and utilised to conjugate the anticancer drug cisplatin, the marker molecule folic acid (FA), and rhodamine isothiocyanate (RITC), whereas the interior space was util...