Microparticles with bimodal nanoporosity derived by microemulsion templating.

Oil, water, and surfactant liquid mixtures exhibit very complex phase behavior. Depending on the conditions, such mixtures give rise to highly organized structures. A proper selection of the type and concentration of surfactants determines the structuring at the nanoscale level. In this Article, we show that hierarchically bimodal porous structures can be obtained by templating silica microparticles with a specially designed surfactant micelle/microemulsion mixture. Tuning the phase state by adjusting the surfactant composition and concentration allows for the controlled design of a system where microemulsion droplets coexist with smaller surfactant micellar structures. The microemulsion droplet and micellar dimensions determine the two types of pore sizes. We also demonstrate the fabrication of carbon and carbon/platinum replicas of the silica microspheres using a "lost-wax" approach. Such particles have great potential for the design of electrocatalysts for fuel cells, chromatography separations, and other applications.