Synthesis and Structure. Wiley-VCH, Singapore 2007, xi + 679 pp., hardcover, Euro 199.00, ISBN 978-0-470-82233-3.The chemistry of zeolites and related porous materials is gaining increasing importance. A large variety of such materials ranging from zeolites, microporous molecular sieves, mesoporous materials, and macroporous materials to metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have found wide applications in industry in areas such as catalysis, ion-exchange and sorption, and other hightechnology applications.This book places a clear focus on the chemistry of zeolites and related ordered porous materials. It is an excellent research reference for solid-state chemists, materials chemists, synthetic chemists, and geochemists. The authors have extensive research experience and have accumulated a deep understanding of the field over several years. They have taken great pains to present a true state-of-the-art picture of the field of zeolites and related porous materials. Critical research results and applications, as well as more recent developments, have been incorporated in this book. The framework and the contents of the book are reflective of the effort and careful thinking invested by the authors in this project.The chemical aspects (i.e., synthesis and structure) of zeolites and related porous materials are covered over nine chapters. The tables and figures are well designed to illustrate the contents in a straightforward manner. Chapter 1 briefly introduces the evolution, development, applications, and prospects for zeolites and related ordered porous materials.Chapter 2 summarizes the structural characteristics of zeolites and related microporous materials. Structure analysis is a fundamental aspect of zeolite chemistry. Detailed understanding of the structure helps in mapping the relationship between syntheses, structures, and properties of porous materials. The abundant structural information about zeolites and related microporous materials provided in this chapter is essential for researchers seeking to obtain a good understanding of this field.Chapter 3 presents the hydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis approaches generally used for the preparation of molecular sieves and porous materials.

Micellar nanoparticles made of surfactants and polymers have attracted wide attention in the materials and biomedical community for controlled drug delivery, molecular imaging, and sensing; however, their long-term stability remains a topic of intense study. Here we report a new class of robust, ultrafine silica core-shell nanoparticles formed from silica cross-linked, individual block copolymer micelles. Compared with pure polymeric micelles, the main advantage of the new core-shell nanoparticles is that they have significantly improved stability and do not break down during dilution. We also studied the drug loading and release properties of the silica cross-linked micellar particles, and we found that the new core-shell nanoparticles have a slower release rate which allows the entrapped molecules to be slowly released over a much longer period of time under the same experimental conditions. A range of functional groups can be easily incorporated through co-condensation with the silica matrix. The potential to deliver hydrophobic agents into cancer cells has been demonstrated. Because of their unique structures and properties, these novel core-shell nanoparticles could potentially provide a new nanomedicine platform for imaging, detection, and treatment, as well as novel colloidal particles and building blocks for mutlifunctional materials.

Using commercially activated carbon, we developed a simple and effective direct chemical oxidation route to prepare good biocompatible multicolor photoluminescent carbon dots.

The cooperative self-assembly of silica species and cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTA+Cl− or CTAC) and the formation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles occur following the hydrolysis and condensation of silica precursor TEOS in the solution. The particle size can be controlled from ∼25 nm to ∼200 nm by adding suitable additive agents (e.g., inorganic bases, alcohols) which affect the hydrolysis and condensation of silica species. The in situ pH measurement of synthesis system is introduced to investigate the formation process of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Our results show that a certain acid−base buffer capacity of the reaction mixture in a range of pH 6−10 is essential for the formation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles in the TEOS−CTA+ system. The nucleation and growth process of the nanoparticles can be extended into the self-assembly system of inorganic−surfactant and the formation of mesophase in aqueous media.

A very simple cooperative template-directed coating method is developed for the preparation of core-shell, hollow, and yolk-shell microporous carbon nanocomposites. Particularly, the cationic surfactant C16TMA(+)·Br(-) used in the coating procedure improves the core dispersion in the reaction media and serves as the soft template for mesostructured resorcinol-formaldehyde resin formation, which results in the uniform polymer and microporous carbon shell coating on most functional cores with different surface properties. The core diameter and the shell thickness of the nanocomposites can be precisely tailored. This approach is highly reproducible and scalable. Several grams of polymer and carbon nanocomposites can be easily prepared by a facile one-pot reaction. The Au@hydrophobic microporous carbon yolk-shell catalyst favors the reduction of more hydrophobic nitrobenzene than hydrophilic 4-nitrophenol by sodium borohydride, which makes this type of catalyst@carbon yolk-shell composites promising nanomaterials as selective catalysts for hydrophobic reactants.

Novel multifunctional magnetic-mesoporous Janus particles with controlled aspect ratio were developed by a simple one-step synthesis approach. Due to their superior magnetic properties and well-defined pore structures, these particles will be important in drug delivery, molecule targeting, cellular imaging, and as building blocks for the assembly of complex nanostructures.

The synthesis of novel dendritic platinum sheets of 2-nm thickness by the reduction of an aqueous metal complex with ascorbic acid in the presence of liposomes is reported. Variation of the reaction conditions, including incorporation of a tin porphyrin photocatalyst within the liposomal bilayer to initiate seed-particle growth, allows access to a diverse range of platinum nanostructures, including dendritic nanosheets of uniform diameters and convoluted foamlike structures composed of interwoven dendritic nanosheets. The mechanism of formation of these nanomaterials is investigated with regard to the photocatalytic generation of platinum nanoparticle seeds, the autocatalytic dendritic growth, and the templating on liposomes. The discrete nanospheres of foamlike platinum are of particular interest, as they may have advantages over conventional platinum black in some applications. For example, they will likely exhibit improved electrical connectivity and mass-transport properties in electrocatalytic applications. Electrochemical CO-stripping measurements and N 2 adsorption experiments show that the nanospheres of foamlike platinum possess high surface areas. In addition, these platinum foam nanospheres are as active as commercial platinum black in catalyzing the four-electron oxygen reduction reaction.

A general synthetic procedure for highly ordered and well-dispersed periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles is reported based on a single cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and simple silica sources with organic bridging groups via an ammonia-catalyzed sol-gel reaction. By changing the bridging group in the silica sources, the pore structures of the as-made particles with three-dimensional hexagonal (P6(3)/mmc), cubic (Pm3n), two-dimensional hexagonal (P6mm), and wormlike structure were evidenced by powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The size range of the nanoparticles can be adjusted from 30 nm to 500 nm by variation of the ammonia concentration or the co-solvent content of the reaction medium. The PMO nanoparticles with high concentration of organic groups in the framework offered good thermal stability, good dispersion in low polarity solvent and high adsorption of small hydrophobic molecules. Finally, the dye functionalized PMO nanoparticles show low cytotoxicity and excellent cell permeability, which offers great potential for biomedical applications.