Sol–gel nanohybrid materials prepared via supramolecular organization

Abstract

This article reports on recent progress in the synthesis of sol–gel nanohybrid materials based on the supramolecular organization. A variety of nanohybrid materials has been obtained by molecular design of the precursors and systematical control of synthetic processes. Organoalkoxysilanes with covalently attached hydrophobic tails are hydrolyzed to form amphiphilic molecules containing silanol groups, leading to the formation of vesicular structures. The obtained hybrid has analogous structures of both cell membrane and silica particle and was named “cerasome”. The cerasome can achieve the hierarchical three-dimensional organization of vesicular particles on the substrate. The nanohybrids are developed not only by the hydrophobic interaction of amphiphilic molecules but also by the electrostatic interaction. The layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of the water-soluble titania precursor with polycation is adopted for nanohybrid coatings containing titania nanoparticles on the substrates. In addition, preparation of hybrid hollow capsules via LbL assembly and sol–gel method with colloid templating is also discussed.