Confined growth of CuO, NiO, and Co3O4 nanocrystals in mesoporous silica (MS) spheres

The confined growth of CuO, NiO, and Co₃O₄ nanocrystals in the mesopores of the MS spheres with the help of polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayers by calcination method has been investigated. Measurements and analyses of SEM, XRD, TEM, and TGA showed that the metal oxide (CuO, NiO, or Co₃O₄) nanoparticles were almost confined in the mesopores of the MS spheres and had good crystallinity. And the resulting composite microspheres with good dispersion are still mesoporous. This approach can be used to prepare composite materials involving metal oxide nanaoparticles, which have potential application in catalytic field. And the results showed that cyclic voltammograms (CV) were valuable for the investigation of catalytic performances of CuO/MS, NiO/MS, and Co₃O₄/MS composite microspheres.