Abstract
A family of hollow organosilica nanospheres and nanotubes was synthesized at appropriately low organosilica-precursor/block-copolymer-surfactant ratios. In Pluronic F127 (EO106PO70EO106) block copolymer templated synthesis of ethylene-bridged organosilicas in the presence of a swelling agent, the lowering of the organosilica-precursor/surfactant ratio led to a change from highly ordered face-centered cubic structure of spherical mesopores to individual hollow spherical nanoparticles. It was hypothesized that at low ratios of organosilica precursor to PEO-PPO-PEO, the framework precursor is solubilized in the micelles and its concentration on their surface is not sufficient to induce appreciable cross-linking between the resulting nanoobjects and the consolidation into larger particles. The inner pore size of the nanospheres was adjusted by varying the micelle expander, allowing us to obtain pore diameters up to ∼20 nm. By employing low precursor/surfactant ratios, hollow spheres of methylene-, ethenylene-...
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