Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Sulfide Hollow Nanostructures with Hexagonal Mesoperiodicity
Dongyeon Son, visiting scientist (5/05-1/06)
Hollow-structured materials have attracted a great deal of attention for their unique characteristics. Up to now, many synthetic methods have been employed to prepare hollow structure, include the use of self-organize surfactants and microemulsion. Among the numerous approaches for obtaining these mesostructured materials, lyotropic liquid crystal templating emerges for its simplicity. This approach uses the self-assembled structure formed by the mixture of an amphiphilic molecule with water to template the formation of a mineral phase.
A lyotropic liquid crystal templates the mineralization of ZnS on the surface of silica. After removal of this sacrificial template, the result is a hollow capsule with a periodically nanostructured inorganic wall. Depending on the surface chemistries of silica, the templated zinc sulfides show different morphologies and shapes. Our process takes place at room temperature, employing a hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystal as a soft template for the mesostructure and a colloidal template for the hollow morphology. The well-controlled pore structure of the shell wall opens the possibility for the encapsulation of nanoparticles, polymers, and biological macromolecules.
Professor Paul Braun • Phone: +1.217.244.7293 • Fax: +1.217.333.2736 • Email: pbraun@illinois.edu
Department of Materials Science and Engineering • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign