Continuous production of hierarchically porous silica beads using co-axial flow

Abstract

Applications of porous materials require macroscopic shapes, which makes it easier to handle and recover them. The direct fabrication of hierarchically porous macroscopic shapes, without the use of additional binders or complex post-treatments, is both challenging and promising. Flow devices offer a convenient route, with high controllability, to synthesize monodisperse particles. Hierarchically macro/mesoporous silica beads were prepared by means of a co-axial flow device combined with the co-micelle/emulsion dual templating strategy. Precursor droplets, which react to form the silica beads, were produced with the flow device and the size of the droplets was strongly influenced by the exter..