Silica hollow spheres with nano-macroholes like diatomaceous earth.
Artificial synthesis of hollow cell walls of diatoms is an ultimate target of nanomaterial science. The addition of some water-soluble polymers such as sodium polymethacrylate to a solution of water/oil/water emulsion system, which is an essential step of the simple synthetic procedure of silica hollow spheres (microcapsules), led to the formation of silica hollow spheres with nano-macroholes (>100 nm) in their shell walls, the morphologies of which are analogous to those of diatom earth.
Fujiwara
Masahiro
M
Kansai Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan. m-fujiwara@aist.go.jp
Shiokawa
Kumi
K
Sakakura
Ikuko
I
Nakahara
Yoshiko
Y