Universal and facile sol-gel approach for fabrication of multitudinous yolk- shell architectures

The nanoreactors with yolk-shell configuration have been one of the most attractive objects because of their unique performance in specific reactions. However, complicated synthesis procedures have restricted the truth understanding and wide application of the yolk-shell architectures. This article presents a universal and facile sol-gel process for fabrication of mesoporous silica hollow structure and derived yolk-shell composites with extended Stöber resorcinol-formaldehyde resin as sacrificed template. The crucial influence factors for the morphology of products are investigated. A series of yolk-shell composites with multitudinous components have been successfully designed and are further catalytic tested by different reactions. This work has provided a universal avenue for the fabrication of yolk-shell nanoreactors to suit specific reaction needs.