title: Multicompartment mesoporous silica nanoparticles with branched shapes: an epitaxial growth mechanism.
abstract: Mesoporous nanomaterials have attracted widespread interest because of their structural versatility for applications including catalysis, separation, and nanomedicine. We report a one-pot synthesis method for a class of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) containing both cubic and hexagonally structured compartments within one particle. These multicompartment MSNs (mc-MSNs) consist of a core with cage-like cubic mesoporous morphology and up to four branches with hexagonally packed cylindrical mesopores epitaxially growing out of the cubic core vertices. The extent of cylindrical mesostructure growth can be controlled via a single additive in the synthesis. Results suggest a path toward high levels of architectural complexity in locally amorphous, mesostructured nanoparticles, which could enable tuning of different pore environments of the same particle for specific chemistries in catalysis or drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Teeraporn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suteewong
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sai
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hovden
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Michelle S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bradbury
authors.forename: Sol M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gruner
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wiesner
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide