Facile Synthesis of Well-dispersed Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as Template

Abstract

A facile approach is demonstrated for the preparation of hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles with large pore volume and high dispersibility. Core–shell nanoparticles consisting of iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) core and mesostructured silica–surfactant composite shell are treated with hexamethyldisiloxane under acidic conditions to achieve capping of silanol groups and removal of both surfactants and the Fe2O3 cores in a single step.