title: Synthesis of Chemically Asymmetric Silica Nanobottles and Their Application for Cargo Loading and as Nanoreactors and Nanomotors.
abstract: We report the synthesis of chemically asymmetric silica nanobottles (NBs) with a hydrophobic exterior surface (capped with 3-chloropropyl groups) and a hydrophilic interior surface for spatially selective cargo loading, and for application as nanoreactors and nanomotors. The silica NBs, which have a "flask bottle" shape with an average diameter of 350 nm and an opening of ca. 100 nm, are prepared by anisotropic sol-gel growth in a water/n-pentanol emulsion. Due to their chemically asymmetric properties, nanoparticles (NPs) with hydrophilic or hydrophobic surface properties can be selectively loaded inside the NBs or on the outside of the NBs, respectively. A high-performance nanomotor is constructed by selectively loading catalytically active hydrophilic Pt NPs inside the NBs. It is also demonstrated that these NBs can be used as vessels for various reactions, such as the in situ synthesis of Au NPs, and using Au NP-loaded NBs as nanoreactors for catalytic reactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Deliang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yinghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiaying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, and the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0197-497X
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7557-5883
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: catalysis; hydrophobicity; nanomotor; nanoparticle; nanoreactor