An Approach to Hierarchically Structured Porous Zirconia Aggregates

Presented here is a simple, inexpensive approach to aggregating colloids into hierarchically structured spherical particles. Successive aggregation steps are used to assemble a particle that is self-similar on two size scales and is permeated by an ordered pore network with a bidisperse size distribution. The structure of the micro- and macropore networks as well as the mechanical integrity of the structure can be controlled by varying sintering conditions.