A Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite, in which silver nanoparticles are highly dispersed in the uniformly sized pores of a cubic mesoporous TiO2 molecular-sieve film, has been fabricated.

A novel lamellar feather-like CeO 2 structure has been fabricated by using a triblock copolymer as the structuredirecting agent. This material was characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and BET surface area measurements. Compared with conventional spherical shaped ceria prepared by ammonia gelation, the ceria feathers have superior ability to support nanosized platinum particles due to their special structure. The "skeletons" of ceria feathers can serve as an ideal host matrix to anchor the platinum particles. Furthermore, the inter-crossing pattern of the "skeletons" also acts as a partition to separate platinum particles, allowing the Pt nanoparticles (average diameter ~6 nm) to be highly dispersed in the structure. The Pt/feather-like CeO 2 catalyst exhibits high activity in the water gas shift reaction.