Biomimetic Preparation and Morphology Control of Mesoporous Silica - Biomimetics: Advancing Nanobiomaterials and Tissue Engineering - page 296

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Biomimetic Preparation and
Morphology Control of Mesoporous
Silica
Qiang Cai* and Ce Peng
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University,
Beijing, China
“The specifi c goal of moving toward the molecular level understanding of the
observed phenomena will be appreciated by readers who wish for a molecular description
of biomineralization as well as those who want to learn from nature and adapt the
strategies to prepare other inorganic materials and architectures [1].”
— ME. Davis
“The chemists begin with the problem of form as described by structure and
then develop the notion of the equilibrium form of crystals and how geomertric
shapes are modifi ed in the presence of surface-active molecules [2]”
— S. Mann
Abstract
In this chapter, we have addressed the concepts from biomineralization to bio-
mimic synthesis of mesoporous silica and summarized the recent achievements
on its morphologies control of mesoporous silica. The basic concepts such as
biomineralization, biomineralization and morphogenesis, biomimic synthesis,
and therefrom some derivative concepts such as the self-assembly and morphol-
ogy formation, etc, have been unfolded in detail. We also have introduced the defi -
nition and classifi cation of the mesoporous silica, especially for mesoporous silica
nanoparticles (MSN) and its biomedical application. Finally, we made a review of
the progresses on the biomimic preparation and morphology control of mesopo-
rous silica, which mainly includes that on general synthesis and the morphology
control of mesoporous silica studied by our group in recent years.
Keywords: Biomimetic synthesis, biomineralization, supramolecular self-assembly,
coding self-assembly, diatoms, drug-delivery, hierarchical structure, hydrophilic-
hydrophobic interaction, MCM-41, SBA-15, mesoporous silica, mesoporous silica