Azobenzene‐Derived Surfactants as Phototriggered Recyclable Templates for the Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous Silica Nanospheres

An azobenzene-derived surfactant behaves as a "smart" molecule. Not only is it used as the structure-directing agent to synthesize unique mesoporous silica nanospheres, but it can also be quickly released from the silica framework with UV light and subsequently recycled.