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...

Mesoporous silica materials with a variety of morphologies, such as monodisperse microspheres, gigantic hollow structures comprising a thin shell with a hole, and gigantic hollow structures consisting of an outer thin shell and an inner layer composed of many small spheres, have been readily synthesized in mixed water-ethanol solvents at room temperature using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CT...

Hollow silica tubes with mesoporous wall structure were synthesized through the sol-gel reactions of tetraethoxysilane and n-octadecyltrimethoxysilane (TEOS/C18-TMS) on the surface of ammonium dl-tartrate crystals. Novel hollow carbon tubes with mesoporous walls and rectangular-shaped channels were fabricated using the silica tubes as templates.

Copper oxide nanoparticles within hollow mesoporous silica spheres were prepared by binding/adsorbing Cu2+ or [Cu(NH3)4(H2O)2]2+ ions on the surface of carbon spheres, followed by formation of a mesoporous silica shell by sol-gel processing and calcination in air. The CuO nanoparticles can subsequently be converted into Cu3N nanoparticles by nitridation with ammonia. The effect of the different...

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...

Hollow/porous nanoparticles, including nanocarriers, nanoshells, and mesoporous materials have applications in catalysis, photonics, biosensing, and delivery of theranostic agents. Using a hierarchical template synthesis scheme, we have synthesized a nanocarrier mimicking a golf ball, consisting of (i) solid silica core with a pitted gold surface and (ii) a hollow/porous gold shell without sili...

Mesoporous silica can be synthesized by either the alkaline route or the acidic route, both using surfactants as templates. Morphological transformations of mesoporous silica can produce various hierarchical orders. Different morphologies are produced under different synthetic conditions. In the alkaline route, the surfactant/silicate liquid crystal system undergoes phase transformation to form...

Monodisperse hollow silica spheres of uniform size and ordered mesoporous shells have been successfully fabricated in water/heptane/CTAB nanoemulsions induced by compressed CO(2).

Hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres (HMSNs) with tunable sizes of both sphere diameter (around 100 nm) and shell thickness have been successfully fabricated.

Titania coated magnetic hollow mesoporous silica spheres with high surface area were created, which can be used in efficient and rapid capture of phosphopeptides from peptide mixtures.