Conspectus
The unique structural features of hollow multishelled structures
(HoMSs) endow them with abundant beneficial physicochemical properties
including high surface-to-volume ratio, low density, short mass transport
length, and high loading capacity. As a result, HoMSs have been considered
as promising candidates for various application areas including energy
storage, electromagnetic wave (EW) absorption, catalysis, sensors,
drug delivery, etc. However, for a long time, the general and controllable
synthesis of HoMSs has remained a great challenge using conventional
soft-templating or hierarchical self-assembly methods, which severely
limits the development of HoMSs.
Fortunately, the sequential
templating approach (STA), which was
first reported by our group and further developed by others, has been
proven to be a versatile method for HoMS fabrication. By using the
STA and through accurate physical and chemical manipulation of the
synthesis conditions, the diversity of the HoMS family has been enriched
in both compositional and geometrical aspects. Benefiting from the
flourishing of synthetic methodology, various HoMSs have been fabricated
and showed application prospect in diverse areas. However, the structure–performance
correlation remained obscure, which hinders the design of optimal
HoMSs to achieve the best application performance.
This Account
aims to explore the correlation between HoMS structural
characteristics and their application performance. We first briefly
summarize the achievements in the compositional and geometrical manipulation
of HoMSs by physically and chemically tuning the synthesis process.
Then, we systematically discuss the effect of structural engineering
on optimizing performance in various application areas, especially
for energy storage, EW absorption, catalysis, sensors, and drug delivery.
Specifically, HoMSs with multiple thin shells can provide numerous
active sites for energy storage, leading to a higher volumetric energy
density than their single-shelled counterparts. The high shell porosity
permits electrolyte access to the interior of HoMSs, along with shortened
mass transport path through the thin shells, resulting in a high power
density. The adequate inner cavity effectively buffers the ion-insertion
strain, leading to prolonged cycling stability.
For EW absorption,
HoMSs with high surface-to-volume ratio can
provide many sites for EW-sensitive material loading. The multiple
separated shells with small intershell space enable multiple EW reflection
and scattering, thus improving EW absorption efficiency.
For
catalysis and sensors, the increased reaction sites along with
the facilitated transport of reactants and products can enhance the
activity and sensitivity. The selectivity can be improved by optimizing
the pore structure and hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties of the
shells. Also the stability is improved with inner shells being protected
by exterior ones.
For drug delivery, the increased exposed sites
and the inner cavity
improve the drug loading capacity. The ...