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Herein, we develop a reproducible in situ crystallization route to synthesize uniform functional ZSM-5 microspheres composed of aggregated ZSM-5 nanorods and well-dispersed uniform Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs). The growth of such unique microspheres undergoes a NP-assisted recrystallization process from surface to core. The obtained magnetic ZSM-5 microspheres possess a uniform size (6-9 μm), ultrafine uniform Fe3O4 NPs (10 nm), good structural stability, high surface area (340 m2/g), and large magnetization (~8.6 emu/g) and exhibit a potential application in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a simple and reproducible route to prepare uniform core@TiO2 structures is urgent for realizing multifunctional responses and harnessing multiple interfaces for new or enhanced functionalities. Here, we report a versatile kinetics-controlled coating method to construct uniform porous TiO2 shells for multifunctional core-shell structures. By simply controlling the kinetics of hydrolysis and condensation of tetrabutyl titanate (TBOT) in ethanol/ammonia mixtures, uniform porous TiO2 shell core-shell structures can be prepared with variable diameter, geometry, and composition as a core (e.g., α-Fe2O3 ellipsoids, Fe3O4 spheres, SiO2 spheres, graphene oxide nanosheets, and carbon nanospheres). This method is very simple and reproducible, yet important, which allows an easy control over the thickness of TiO2 shells from 0 to ~25, ~45, and ~70 nm. Moreover, the TiO2 shells possess large mesoporosities and a uniform pore size of ~2.5 nm, and can be easily crystallized into anatase phase without changing the uniform core-shell structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]