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Direct Synthesis and Pseudomorphic Transformation of Mixed Metal Oxide Nanostructures with Non‐Close‐Packed Hollow Sphere Arrays
Author(s) -
Liu Zhendong,
Zhao Wenyang,
Kumar Prashant,
Li Xinyu,
Al Wahedi Yasser,
Mkhoyan K. Andre,
Tsapatsis Michael,
Stein Andreas
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201808826
Subject(s) - nanostructure , materials science , crystallization , octahedron , colloid , nanotechnology , tetrahedron , oxide , metal , spheres , crystallography , chemical engineering , colloidal crystal , crystal structure , chemistry , metallurgy , physics , astronomy , engineering
While bottom‐up syntheses of ordered nanostructured materials at colloidal length scales have been successful at producing close‐packed materials, it is more challenging to synthesize non‐close‐packed (ncp) structures. Here, a metal oxide nanostructure with ncp hollow sphere arrays was synthesized by combining a polymeric colloidal crystal template (CCT) with a Pechini precursor. The CCT provided defined confinement through its tetrahedral (T d ) and octahedral (O h ) voids where the three‐dimensionally (3D) ordered, ncp hollow sphere arrays formed as a result of a crystallization‐induced rearrangement. This nanostructure, consisting of alternating, interconnected large and small hollow spheres, is distinct from the inverse opal structures typically generated from these CCTs. The morphology of the ncp hollow sphere arrays was retained in pseudomorphic transformations involving sulfidation and reoxidation cycling despite the segregation of zinc during these steps.