This study describes the preparation of a multifunctional adsorptive catalyst by the incorporation of ligand groups within the channels of magnetic amphiphilic nanocomposites and attached with Pd nanoparticles. It was clearly demonstrated that Pd2+ was adsorbed by ligand-functionalized materials in water, and then Pd2+ was coordinated with ligand groups. Finally, the Pd nanoparticles were produced via an in situ reduction of Pd2+ by ligand groups through a simple hydrothermal process. Moreover, amphiphilic nanomaterials are viewed as excellent collectors of hydrophobic contaminants in water. The immobilized catalytic active sites with ligand-functionalized nanocomposites were allowed for maximal exposure to the reactants with minimal leaching of the Pd nanoparticles. The unique amphiphilic nanocomposites enabled selective oxidation of alcohols to proceed efficiently in water under aerobic conditions. Moreover, this nanocomposite catalyst could be completely recovered using an external magnet due to the superparamagnetic behavior of Fe3O4 and can be recycled with sustained selectivity and activity.

Hierarchical zeolites are promising solid acid catalysts for industrial processes and conversions of bulky molecules because they provide fast mass transfer along with size and shape selectivity; however, their synthesis always involves either complicated post-synthetic modifications or cost-intensive templates. In this work, engineering growth defects has been developed as a new and efficient strategy for preparing hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite with high specific surface area and abundant uniform intracrystalline mesopores. This route only involved certain energy-efficient conditions, e.g., tender crystallization and mesotemplate-free conditions. Combining tender crystallization conditions with an optimal original Si/Al ratio (150–300) in a colloid synthesis system was found to be the key to successfully engineer the growth defects. Importantly, it even exhibited higher catalytic activities for benzaldehyde–alcohol condensation reactions than mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolite prepared using mesoscale templates.

In this work, we report one new class of one-dimensional highly uniform periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) helical nanotubes with a unique amphiphilic framework and perpendicular mesochannels in walls through a simple, efficient and controllable one-step strategy. The chiral mesoporous silica (CMS) nanorods were used as hard templates. The evolution of the nanotube structure involved a process of organosilane-directed growth-induced etching, in which the growth of the external PMO wall promoted the dissolution of internal CMS nanorods, and the dissolved silicate species transformed into the external PMO wall by co-condensation with hydrolyzed organosilane oligomers. Moreover, the helical morphology was retained completely in the process of structural evolution. In addition, PMO helical nanotubes with different aspect ratios, wall thicknesses and curvatures as well as chemical compositions could be easily prepared via this strategy. Furthermore, the PMO helical nanotubes exhibited good amphiphilicity and can be used as a particle emulsifier for fabricating Pickering emulsions with different morphologies in various systems. Most importantly, the PMO helical nanotubes showed outstanding performance in the removal of hydrophobic contaminants from water, whose sorption capacity (1800–3000 mg g−1) was much higher than those of mesosilica nanotubes and conventional MCM-41, and even comparable to those of some sponges.

Hybrid mesoporous organo-aluminosilicate spheres (HMAS) with ultra-high aluminium contents have been successfully synthesized with co-condensation of sodium aluminate and organosilane at room temperature using cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a templating agent. The hybrid framework remains intact after template removal with mild acidity solutions, and the template-extracted samples have a high content of framework aluminium and textural porosity. Additionally, the high Al-containing hybrid mesoporous materials exhibit excellent removal performance for methylene blue (397 mg g−1) owing to their extremely low Si/Al ratio and high surface area.

This work describes the design, synthesis and analysis of an amphiphilic hollow mesoporous shell encapsulating catalytically active Au@Pd bimetal nanoparticles. The particles exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability in the aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes or ketones in water when using air as an oxidizing agent under atmospheric pressure.

Nitrogen doped porous carbon hollow spheres (N-PCHSs) with an ultrahigh nitrogen content of 15.9 wt% and a high surface area of 775 m2 g−1 were prepared using Melamine-formaldehyde nanospheres as hard templates and nitrogen sources. The N-PCHSs were completely characterized and were found to exhibit considerable CO2 adsorption performance (4.42 mmol g−1).

A promising strategy for synthesis zeolites has been reported in this paper. The method combines the advantages of both microwave heating and solventless synthesis. This method can generate zeolites under atmospheric pressure and is safe, highly efficient and environmentally benign.

We have developed an organosilane-directed growth-induced etching strategy to prepare hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanospheres with perpendicular mesoporous channels and a clear hollow interior as well as an amphiphilic framework. This facile strategy is simple, efficient, and highly controllable. Silica nanospheres were utilized as hard templates to obtain hollow PMO nanospheres through a one-step route, with the structure parameter highly controlled by adjusting the synthesis conditions. Different organosilanes were used to obtain bridged hollow PMO nanospheres of different organic groups and showed different directed capacities. The integrity of the bridged organic group was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations showed that the growth of the PMO shell and the dissolution of the silica nanosphere core occurred simultaneously for each nanosphere, while 29Si NMR spectra revealed that the dissolved silica species from the silica nanospheres transformed into PMO shells by co-condensation with hydrolyzed organosilane oligomers. As a result, the obtained hollow nanospheres were amphiphilic, which can even be used as a particle emulsifier for O–W or W–O emulsion in various systems. These materials can also be served as an efficient sorbent for removal of hydrophobic contaminants in water. Using the proposed formation mechanism, this strategy can be extended to transform silica-coated composite materials into yolk–shell structures with a functional interior core and a perpendicular mesoporous amphiphilic shell. As a nanoreactor, the –Ph– bridged amphiphilic shell showed a faster diffusion rate for organic reactants in water than the hydrophilic silica shell, and thus better catalytic activity for reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

•Controlled the growth of gold nanoparticles in an ion-exchanged zeolite L host•Ion-exchange reactions and thermal reduction processes•Produce a number of different sizes of the gold nanoparticlesThe growth of gold nanoparticles in zeolite can be controlled using ion-exchange reactions and thermal reduction processes. We produce a number of different sizes of the gold nanoparticles with the particle size increasing with increased temperature of the final heat treatment.Formation mechanism for growth of gold nanoparticles.

Ternary solid complex was synthesized via hybridization of curcumin(Cur), hydroxyapatite(HAP), lanthanum( La) and acetic acid(HAc). The nano-scale hybrid composite of La-Cur/HAP was directly prepared by the wet method. The morphologies and structures of the composite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared(IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction(XRD), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The antibacterial activities were tested by methods of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration(MBC). The results show that the size of the La-Cur/HAP composite is less than 100 nm, and the composite exhibits strong bacteriostatic activity against Escherichia coli(E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) at low concentrations(in the range of 26–92 μg/mL). The composite can exhibit both of the bacteria and shows higher antibacterial activity against S. aureus than against E. coli. At the same time, La-Cur/HAP shows stronger antibacterial efficiency than ampicillin/HAP.

Humidity sensors based on K-doped mesoporous silica SBA-15 were prepared and characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The humidity sensing test results show that KCl doping improves the sensing characteristic of humidity sensors. The optimal result is obtained via sample 50 wt% KCl-doped SBA-15, which exhibits an excellent linearity in the whole humidity range of 11%-95%. It also shows satisfactory reversibility and fast responses to the environmental moisture. The investigation of the humidity sensitive characteristics of the K-doped SBA-15 sensor shows that this material could have good prospects of application in humidity sensor.Graphical AbstractHighlights► A simple and effective route for the synthesis of a highly efficient humidity sensing material. ► The composite presents good stability and has undestroyed ordered mesoporous structure. ► This sensor has a very good response and recovery property.

We have developed an organosilane-directed growth-induced etching strategy to prepare hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanospheres with perpendicular mesoporous channels and a clear hollow interior as well as an amphiphilic framework. This facile strategy is simple, efficient, and highly controllable. Silica nanospheres were utilized as hard templates to obtain hollow PMO nanospheres through a one-step route, with the structure parameter highly controlled by adjusting the synthesis conditions. Different organosilanes were used to obtain bridged hollow PMO nanospheres of different organic groups and showed different directed capacities. The integrity of the bridged organic group was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations showed that the growth of the PMO shell and the dissolution of the silica nanosphere core occurred simultaneously for each nanosphere, while 29Si NMR spectra revealed that the dissolved silica species from the silica nanospheres transformed into PMO shells by co-condensation with hydrolyzed organosilane oligomers. As a result, the obtained hollow nanospheres were amphiphilic, which can even be used as a particle emulsifier for O–W or W–O emulsion in various systems. These materials can also be served as an efficient sorbent for removal of hydrophobic contaminants in water. Using the proposed formation mechanism, this strategy can be extended to transform silica-coated composite materials into yolk–shell structures with a functional interior core and a perpendicular mesoporous amphiphilic shell. As a nanoreactor, the –Ph– bridged amphiphilic shell showed a faster diffusion rate for organic reactants in water than the hydrophilic silica shell, and thus better catalytic activity for reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

In this work, we report one new class of one-dimensional highly uniform periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) helical nanotubes with a unique amphiphilic framework and perpendicular mesochannels in walls through a simple, efficient and controllable one-step strategy. The chiral mesoporous silica (CMS) nanorods were used as hard templates. The evolution of the nanotube structure involved a process of organosilane-directed growth-induced etching, in which the growth of the external PMO wall promoted the dissolution of internal CMS nanorods, and the dissolved silicate species transformed into the external PMO wall by co-condensation with hydrolyzed organosilane oligomers. Moreover, the helical morphology was retained completely in the process of structural evolution. In addition, PMO helical nanotubes with different aspect ratios, wall thicknesses and curvatures as well as chemical compositions could be easily prepared via this strategy. Furthermore, the PMO helical nanotubes exhibited good amphiphilicity and can be used as a particle emulsifier for fabricating Pickering emulsions with different morphologies in various systems. Most importantly, the PMO helical nanotubes showed outstanding performance in the removal of hydrophobic contaminants from water, whose sorption capacity (1800–3000 mg g−1) was much higher than those of mesosilica nanotubes and conventional MCM-41, and even comparable to those of some sponges.

This work describes the design, synthesis and analysis of an amphiphilic hollow mesoporous shell encapsulating catalytically active Au@Pd bimetal nanoparticles. The particles exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability in the aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes or ketones in water when using air as an oxidizing agent under atmospheric pressure.

Nitrogen doped porous carbon hollow spheres (N-PCHSs) with an ultrahigh nitrogen content of 15.9 wt% and a high surface area of 775 m2 g−1 were prepared using Melamine-formaldehyde nanospheres as hard templates and nitrogen sources. The N-PCHSs were completely characterized and were found to exhibit considerable CO2 adsorption performance (4.42 mmol g−1).

C, N co-modified niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) nanoneedles have been successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method with Niobium Chloride (NbCl5) as a precursor and triethylamine as both the carbon and nitrogen source. The formation process of Nb2O5 nanoneedles has been presented in detail by investigating the effect of the crystallization temperature, the amount of triethylamine and the calcination temperature. The as-prepared Nb2O5 nanoneedles exhibit more efficient photocatalytic activity than commercial Degussa P25 and commercial Nb2O5 towards photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) at a concentration of 10 mg L−1 under visible light. Special chemical species, such as carbonate species and NOX species, that exist on the surface of the as-prepared catalyst could extend the absorption into the visible region and thus enhance the photocatalytic activity of the Nb2O5 nanoneedles. At the same time, the obtained Nb2O5 nanoneedles exhibit excellent stability even after three successive cycles. A possible photodegradation mechanism was proposed and the corresponding photodecomposition process of RhB over the Nb2O5 nanoneedles was elucidated by a reactive species trapping experiment, suggesting that h+ and O2˙− play a major role in the photodegradation of RhB in aqueous solution.