Fabrication of perforated sub-micron silica shells

A new synthetic approach for fabrication of perforated hollow silica morphologies using colloidal template assemblies is demonstrated. As proof-of-principle, the polystyrene/silver colloidal assemblies had chemically modified surfaces. The template dissolution resulted in the fabrication of the submicron perforated hollow silica shells. The morphologies are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and plasmon light extinction spectrophotometry.