Evaporation‐Induced Self‐Assembly for the Preparation of Porous Metal Oxide Films

Three-Dimensional Titanium Dioxide Nanomaterials

“…However, other morphologies such as porous spheres and porous fibers as well as more complex hierarchical porous morphologies can also be prepared via the EISA approach. Because of the unprecedented degree of porosity control, the EISA method became a very popular technique for the fabrication of different periodic porous materials. ,− Applications of the EISA method for the fabrication of porous morphologies and mechanistic details are described in several comprehensive reviews (refs , , , − , , , and − ). In this chapter, we briefly describe the main features of the EISA process regarding the fabrication of porous titania films, and discuss recent developments in this area.…”

“…Considering the great practical relevance of 3D-titania nanomorphologies, there is already a rich literature on different aspects of 3D-titania materials. Several earlier reviews deal with the general approaches toward the fabrication of 3D-titania morphologies, − with a focus on particular morphologies such as porous titania materials, − porous spheres, , shells, nanosheets, nanorods, fibers, nanotubes, , protonated titanates, or highlighting the possibilities of specific synthesis approaches such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), sol–gel synthesis, green synthesis, electrochemical synthesis, − or facet control . Several reviews deal with various applications of 3D-titania materials in solar cells, ,− photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry, − electrochemical energy storage, ,− self-cleaning coatings, , antifogging coatings, or molecular separation …”

Microscale Controlled Electrogeneration of Patterned Mesoporous Silica Thin Films

“…Mesoporous and mesostructured materials prepared by bottom-up self-assembly of regular sol–gel networks around surfactant or polymer templates − are among the most attractive synthetic objects, exhibiting unprecedented properties in terms of porosity, structure and reactivity. − Though being manufactured in various forms, the thin film configuration is highly recommended for several applications such as micro-optics and photonic devices, microelectronics, sensors, energy, environment, coatings, biomaterials, biomicrofluidics, among others. − Mesoporous films are typically prepared by sol–gel processing using primarily evaporation-induced self-assembly approaches associated to deposition by dip coating, spin coating, casting, or spraying. ,− Many examples of silica, metal oxide, and hybrid organic–inorganic films have been reported so far, for which ordered mesophases can be obtained in distinct nanoscale morphologies (hexagonal, cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, bicontinuous, or less-ordered wormlike structures). Recent efforts have been focused on controlling mesopore orientation, − especially in a direction perpendicular to the underlying substrate, − or on generating thin films with multimodal porosity, , because these lead to optimal configurations ensuring highest accessibilities from the film surface.…”