Advances in nanobubbles as green soft templates for functional nanomaterial synthesis

Hollow nanomaterials offer great potential across various fields, owing to their large surface area, adjustable pore structures, and versatile functionalization capabilities. Nanobubbles (NBs), as green soft templates, offer a stable gas–liquid interface that can induce the directional deposition of materials, making them an effective strategy for constructing hollow structures. This review systematically summarizes the preparation methods of NBs and their regulation mechanisms in hollow structure formation, with a particular focus on their potential for fabricating functional adsorbents. Notably, in resource recovery scenarios such as uranium extraction from seawater, NB-induced hollow structures can increase the accessible surface area and improve the adsorption performance and selectivity of adsorbents, providing new insights for the development of efficient and sustainable uranium sorbent materials. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with the application of NBs in the synthesis of functional materials.