Engineering colloids with narrow size distribution in a three dimensional ordered macroporous carbon microreactor.

A three dimensional ordered macroporous carbon (OMC) was confirmed a proper microreactor for engineering silica based colloids by synthesizing magnetic mesoporous bioactive glass microspheres, Fe 2 O 3 /SiO 2 hollow microspheres and SiO 2 /Ag spherical crowns. The OMC was much more chemically inert and heat resistant than the ordered macroporous polymer (OMP), thus multistep synthesis processes were carried out inside the OMC to engineer the composition, shape and structure of the silica based colloids. This work suggested that the OMC had more advantages in synthesizing colloids than the OMP, and the mechanism of engineering colloidal structures based on material wetting to the OMP was extended to designing multistep chemical reactions, limiting reaction in a closed room and material wetting to the OMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]