Seminar Tangi Aubert (ICGM Montpellier)

Hierarchical and functional silica-based architectures from low-dimensional nanostructures

Thomas Gaillard¹, Nadia Batool^1,2, Anu Vashishtha¹, Arianna Bertero³, Gaulthier Rydzek¹, Corine Gerardin¹, Julien Schmitt¹, Anne Galarneau¹, Damien Voiry², Bartolomeo Coppola³, Tangi Aubert¹

¹ Institute Charles Gerhardt, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France

² European Membrane Insitute, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France

³ LINCE Laboratory, Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

Abstract

Mesoporous silica has been a major player for many functional applications, as well as an important model material, representative of the mesostructured family. Its sol-gel synthesis by micelle soft-templating is a method of choice for the deliberate tailoring of particle size, shape and pore texture. This approach offers a unique opportunity to control materials dimensionality by either restricting, directing or confining the self-assembly of multiple micelles during the silica growth. This strategy has led us to the discovery of new low-dimensional structures, including 0D, 1D and 2D cage-type nanostructures [1-3]. Beyond their fundamental interest, these low-dimensional structures also constitute well-suited building blocks for the bottom-up assembly of structured materials. Following this reasoning, we have developed innovative approaches for the manufacturing of advanced silica-based architectures, including membranes and monolithic structures [4-5]. In particular, we have developed photo-sensitive silica nanocages inks enabling the direct 3D printing of hierarchically porous structures via DLP stereolithography. Unlike conventional nanocomposite approaches, our method yields predominantly inorganic materials with readily accessible porosity without the need for any calcination step [5]. Moreover, this strategy enables the integration of various colloidal nanomaterials and allows precise spatial positioning of functionalities within the printed architectures, paving the way for the fabrication of complex, high-value structures for catalytic and environmental applications [6].

[1] Ma et al. Nature 2018, 558, 577.

[2] Aubert et al. Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, 1908362.

[3] Vashishtha et al. ACS Nano 2024, 18, 29008.

[4] Wang et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 2229.

[5] Aubert et al. Nat. Commun. 2020, 11, 4695.

[6] Gaillard et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, 35 (48), 2509897.