Abstract: A method of synthesizing corrugated and nanoporous microspheres including the steps of synthesizing substantially smooth spherical microspheres, and controlled wet-etching of the substantially smooth spherical microspheres with a basic solution having a pH above 10.00 is provided. The microspheres can include, for example, silica microspheres or titania microspheres of various sized diameters of between 50 nm and 600 nm. The basic solution can include an aqueous potassium cyanide solution or an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution. Methods of using the corrugated and nanoporous microspheres described herein are also provided.

Abstract: Selective and efficient multifunctional nanoporous catalysts containing spatially distributed organoamine and silanol groups, and methods of preparation thereof. The catalysts have been observed to be very highly efficient in catalysis of the Henry reaction.

Abstract: The present invention provides a synthetic strategy for creating a new class of materials called hybrid mesoporous, macroporous, or mesoporous-macroporous organometaloxide materials, exemplified but not limited to hybrid mesoporous organosilicas. This strategy involves taking a pre-assembled mesoporous material having a porous framework and then attaching an organic, inorganic or biological guest molecule to the pore walls of the framework material through two or more chemical linkages. The unusual combination of inorganic and organic components organized into a material with mesoscale porosity and having bridge bonded organic, organometallic, or biological functionalized surfaces suggests a myriad of uses for these composite materials, such as the controlled release and uptake of chemicals and drugs, chiral separations and catalysis, electronic printing and microelectronic packaging, thermal and acoustical insulation.

Abstract: A functionalized porous crystalline material is disclosed exhibiting an X-ray diffraction pattern with at least one peak at a position greater than about 1.8 nm d-spacing with a relative intensity of 100. The crystalline material comprises a framework including metal atoms, oxygen atoms and at least one organic group bonded between at least two of said metal atoms so as to be integral with said framework, and wherein said organic group has at least one sulfonate moiety bonded thereto.

Abstract: A functionalized porous crystalline material is disclosed exhibiting an X-ray diffraction pattern with at least one peak at a position greater than about 1.8 nm d-spacing with a relative intensity of 100. The crystalline material comprises a framework including metal atoms, oxygen atoms and at least one organic group bonded between at least two of said metal atoms so as to be integral with said framework, and wherein said organic group has at least one sulfonate moiety bonded thereto.