Well-structured and monodisperse nanocomposite spheres with a magnetic core/mesoporous silica shell structure (MCMS) were obtained. The effects on the structure and morphology of the MCMS spheres were investigated under various synthesis conditions, including reaction time, quantity of silicate sources of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and n-octadecyltrimethoxysilane (C18TMS), ratio of TEOS/C18TMS, and ratio of H2O/EtOH in the starting solution. The particle size of the MCMS spheres and pore diameter are tunable in a certain range with 100% yield. A synthesis mechanism of the mesoporous silica shell was proposed that proceeds via three main stages. The silica shell proved to be effective on protecting the cores from leaching out in acidic conditions.

In this paper, we report a facile route, the tin vapor treatment method, to prepare tin oxide containing mesoporous silica composites (TOMS), which display room-temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL). Among them, TOMS-1 and TOMS-2 were synthesized from mesoporous silica SBA-15 and KIT-6, respectively. They are composed of amorphous SiO2 and tin oxide species and they display strong emission near ultraviolet (UV) when excited by UV light. By increasing the preparation temperature, their Sn content can be increased and subsequently their photoluminescence (PL) intensities can be greatly enhanced. Besides, their PL properties are revealed to be closely related to 2-fold-coordinated tin oxygen-deficient centers.

A novel structural mesoporous alumina (40 mol%)/yttrium doped zirconia nanocrystalline composite has been synthesized by a solvothermal process using ethanol and ethylene glycol as a co-solvent. X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption are used for the structural characterization. This novel mesoporous alumina/zirconia nanocomposite presents nanocrystalline zirconia particles with a uniform size less than 5 nm surrounded by alumina, forming a kind of core-shell structure after calcined at 800 °C. The mesostructural composite has high surface area (higher than 250 m2/g) and a narrow pore-size distribution of about 3.2 nm throughout the composite sample. The uniformly distributed nanocrystalline zirconia particles and the surrounding wormlike alumina framework act as the inorganic wall for the mesopores.

A simple approach has been developed for the synthesis of Au@CdS core-shell nanoparticles by a direct self-assembling process. Stable Au@CdS composite colloids were prepared by thiourea, as a double-functional reagent that acted as the linkage agent between Cd2+ ions and gold nanoparticles. The CdS-capped gold composite nanoparticles were successfully integrated into BaTiO3 films. A significant enhancement of third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility in the Au@CdS nanoparticles with core-shell structure is reported. To compare the effect of enhanced nonlinear response, single gold or CdS nanoparticles embedded in BaTiO3 films were also prepared.