The co-micelle/emulsion templating route to tailor nano-engineered hierarchically porous macrospheres

Abstract

Here we present a new class of nano-engineered hierarchically porous materials in which the entire framework is mesoporous. This material is engineered into macrospheres of controllable size with a highly interconnected macropore network to facilitate molecular diffusion access. To achieve this, a new co-micelle/emulsion templating (co-MET) technique was developed. In this technique a block copolymer plays the dual roles of emulsion stabilization and micelle formation within the aqueous phase of that emulsion to produce the hierarchical structures. The emulsion templating provides the macroporous structure while the mesoporous structure is formed by hydrolyzation of silica around block copol..