Evaporation-controlled nanocasting approach to a precision replication at nanometer scale

An evaporation-controlled nanocasting approach, a templating method in which a precision replication can be realized for the first time, was demonstrated for preparing highly ordered mesoporous materials. To ensure a complete filling of the pores of mesoporous carbon (CMK-3), an excessive amount of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was used for infiltration. After the infiltration step, the TEOS molecules on the particle external surface were removed by evaporation. The obtained silica replica, ECN-S, can not only retain the macroscopic morphology, but also have the same lattice parameter as the carbon mold. Interestingly, it is observed that the wall thickness of ECN-S is exactly the same as the pore size of CMK-3, and the pore size of ECN-S is also the same as the wall thickness of CMK-3. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.