Confined Interfacial Monomicelle Assembly for Precisely Controlled Coating of Single-Layered Titania Mesopores

Mesoporous core-shell nanostructures have recently been receiving extensive scientific interest; however, reliable approaches for coating mesoporous materials still remain exciting challenges, except for amorphous silica. We report, for the first time, a confined interfacial monomicelle assembly method for controlled coating of anatase TiO2 with single-layered ordered mesopores on diverse surfaces, opening up the area of coating ordered mesoporous crystalline materials that possess mesopores originating from self-assembled surfactant instead of accumulated nanocrystals. This facile and repeatable methodology relies on the solvent-confinement effect of glycerol during the assembly process and monomicelle hydrogel preformation by selective evaporation of double-solvent precursors. This assembly process shows precise controllability and great versatility, endowing the coated TiO2 layers with highly tunable thickness, mesopore size, and switchable coated surfaces. The ultrathin monolayered mesopores of such mesoporous TiO2 shells, in combination with their high surface area and highly crystalline nature, afford them excellent rate capability and superior cyclability for sodium-ion storage.