Surface diffusion driven nanoshell formation by controlled sintering of inesoporous nanoparticle aggregates

摘要

We report a general method for the synthesis of hollow structures of a variety of functional inorganics by partial sintering of inesoporous nanocrystal aggregates. The formation of a thin shell initiates the transport of mass from the interior leading to growth of the shell. The principles are general and the hollow structures thus produced are attractive for many applications including catalysis, drug delivery and biosensing.