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Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
Published on: April 22, 2016
Dual soft-template system based on colloidal chemistry for the synthesis of hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles
Yunqi Li1, Bishnu Prasad Bastakoti, Masataka Imura
1World Premier International (WPI) Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan) http://www.yamauchi-labo.com; Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555 (Japan).
Abstract:
A new dual soft-template system comprising the asymmetric triblock copolymer poly(styrene-b-2-vinyl pyridine-b-ethylene oxide) (PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO) and the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is used to synthesize hollow mesoporous silica (HMS) nanoparticles with a center void of around 17 nm. The stable PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO polymeric micelle serves as a template to form the hollow interior, while the CTAB surfactant serves as a template to form mesopores in the shells. The P2VP blocks on the polymeric micelles can interact with positively charged CTA(+) ions via negatively charged hydrolyzed silica species. Thus, dual soft-templates clearly have different roles for the preparation of the HMS nanoparticles. Interestingly, the thicknesses of the mesoporous shell are tunable by varying the amounts of TEOS and CTAB. This study provides new insight on the preparation of mesoporous materials based on colloidal chemistry.
