Spherical silica particles that are able to assemble at a phase boundary of a dual-phase mixture of water and an immiscible organic solvent were prepared by a partial modification of their surface hydroxyl groups with an alkylsilylation agent. Scanning electron microscopic observation of these particles in which their remaining surface hydroxyl groups had been selectively modified with colloidal gold particles revealed that each particle has an asymmetric surface structure: one side of the surface is hydrophilic and the other is hydrophobic. We found that these particles could form a micellar structure in water in the presence of an organic solution of a toluene/polystyrene mixture. The micellar structure was evidenced by formation of golf-ball-like polystyrene particles with dimples imprinting morphologies of the hydrophobic part of modified silica particles.
Mesoporous Ta2O5 was synthesized by the ligand-assisted templating method, and its
stability for use as a photocatalyst was studied by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption isotherm
analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalytic activity for the overall
water decomposition on the mesoporous Ta2O5 was improved by NiO loading and pretreatment. The mesoporous structure was found to be maintained to some extent after loading of
NiO (H2 evolution site) and pretreatment for activation at a temperature as high as 673 K.
Although the wall of mesoporous Ta2O5 was amorphous, the photocatalytic activity was higher
than that of the crystallized Ta2O5.
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