Image of the Week - 28 November 2006

Structure of a Self-Assembled Nanoporous Silica Film

This TEM image shows the structure of a nanoporous silica film; the pores are about 10 nm in diameter. This highly uniform porous nanostructure was prepared using sol-gel chemistry with a diblock copolymer surfactant (F127) as a structure-directing agent. Film nanostructures such as pore size, orientation, and connectivity can be fine-tuned through proper selection of synthesis and processing parameters.

Image Courtesy: Hae-Kwon Jeong, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Contact: hjeong@scs.uiuc.edu