Time-resolved investigation of mesoporous silica microsphere formation using in situ heating optical microscopy.

A fundamental understanding of the drying behavior of droplets containing solids or solutes is important for various industrial applications. However, droplets are typically highly polydisperse and time-resolved imaging data of the process dynamics are often lacking, which makes it difficult to interpret the effects of different drying parameters. Here, the controlled drying of monodisperse emulsion droplets containing colloidal silica nanoparticles and their subsequent assembly into mesoporous silica microspheres (MSMs) is investigated using an optical microscope outfitted with a heating and vacuum stage.

Hierarchical micro-/mesoporous zeolite microspheres prepared by colloidal assembly of zeolite nanoparticles.

A novel template-free colloidal assembly method that combines colloidal zeolite (silicalite-1) suspensions in a water-in-oil emulsion with an evaporation-induced assembly process has been developed for preparing hierarchical micro-/mesoporous zeolite microspheres (MZMs). Such particles have an interconnected mesoporosity and large mesopore diameters (25-40 nm) combined with 5.5 Å diameter micropores of the zeolite nanoparticles.

Control of Calcium Phosphate Nucleation and Transformation through Interactions of Enamelin and Amelogenin Exhibits the "Goldilocks Effect".

Although amelogenin comprises the vast majority of the matrix that templates calcium phosphate nucleation during enamel formation, other proteins, particularly enamelin, are also known to play an important role in the formation of enamel's intricate architecture. However, there is little understanding of the interplay between amelogenin and enamelin in controlling processes of mineral nucleation and growth. Here, we used an model to investigate the impact of enamelin interaction with amelogenin on calcium phosphate nucleation for a range of enamelin-to-amelogenin ratios.