Microfluidic-assisted sol–gel preparation of monodisperse mesoporous silica microspheres with controlled size, surface morphology, porosity and stiffness

) and stiffness of the microspheres (elastic modulus tunable from 0.9 GPa to 144.3 GPa). Further investigations indicate that rapid solvent diffusion promotes the formation of dense microspheres while gelation of silica sol induces mesoporous structures; tuning the solvent diffusion and gelation rates enables the modulation of the porous structure and surface morphology, and the surface status further determines the stiffness of the microspheres. The strategy presented here may provide new tools for the on-demand design of next generation monodisperse silica microspheres with precisely controlled properties. It may also provide new insights into the preparation of other monodisperse microspheres with desired functionalities.