A Mutual-template Route To Unusual Nanostructures

With the development of nanoscience,researchers have made unprecedented progresses in the preparation of nanostructures with precisely controlled morphologies,compositions and properties.The focus of this area has shifted to controlled synthesis of nanostructures with unusual morphologies owing to their potentially new properties and applications.Among different synthetic routes,template methods are commonly used to fabricate nanostructures that are otherwise difficult to obtain.The structure of targeted nanomaterials produced by the template methods are defined by preformed templates.Owing to the limited structural complexity of existing template materials,it remains a key challenge for the templated growth of nanostructures with increased complexity.Inspired by mutualism,a common phenomenon in biology,herein we develop a mutual-template concept based on the simultaneous growth of the template and target materials that serve as mutual templates for each other.This mutual-template strategy is not limited by preformed templates and enables the preparation of new nanostructures with unusual morphologies.The main achievements are as follows:In the first part of the work,we demonstrate the effectiveness of this mutual-template growth strategy in the preparation of silica nanostructures with unusual morphologies.By adjusting the reaction conditions of the water-alkanol emulsion system,the simultaneous precipitation of the salt template and the growth of silica were achieved.A series of silica nanocapsule structures with novel shapes and low symmetry were prepared.The precise regulation of different structural parameters was achieved,and the versatility of the method was proved in a variety of alkanol solvents,which provided a new route for the preparation of unusual nanostructuresIn the second part of the work,we extended the mutual-template method to the growth of silica nanocapsules from existing seeds,such as silica microrods and?-Fe2O3 nanoellipsoids and microrods,which further expands the family of unusual nanostructures with abundant morphologies,compositions,and functionalities.The functional nanoparticles such as Pd and Au were encapsulated into the cavity of open-mounthed silica nanocapsules.The nanocomposites with unusual morphologies provided a new model system for the fundamental understanding of motion mechanisms in nanomotors.In summary,this paper proposed a mutual-template strategy for the simultaneous growth of the template and the target product.It breaks through the limitation of preformed template in the traditional template method,and obtains a series of unusual nanoparticles with highly complex morphologies and compositions.In addition,we explored applications in nanomotors and other related fields.This research not only helped us to deepen the understanding of template methods,but also improved the morphology and structural complexity of unusual nanoparticles,paving the way for their applications for various purposes.