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Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Fabrication of Polymer Microspheres for Optical Resonator and Laser Applications
Published on: June 2, 2017
Surfactant Assembly within Pickering Emulsion Droplets for Fabrication of Interior-Structured Mesoporous Carbon
Dawei Liu1,2,3, Nan Xue2, Lijuan Wei2
1State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan, 030001, China.
Abstract:
Large-sized carbon spheres with controllable interior architecture are highly desired, but there is no method to synthesize these materials. Here, we develop a novel method to synthesize interior-structured mesoporous carbon microspheres (MCMs), based on the surfactant assembly within water droplet-confined spaces. Our approach is shown to access a library of unprecedented MCMs such as hollow MCMs, multi-chambered MCMs, bijel-structured MCMs, multi-cored MCMs, "solid" MCMs, and honeycombed MCMs. These novel structures, unattainable for the conventional bulk synthesis even at the same conditions, suggest an intriguing effect arising from the droplet-confined spaces. This synthesis method and the hitherto unfound impact of the droplet-confined spaces on the microstructural evolution open up new horizons in exploring novel materials for innovative applications.
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