Construction of Yolk@shell Nanocomposite Particles with Controlled Multisized Pore Structures by Monomicelle Confined Assembly

Abstract

Hollow nanoparticles with tunable structures and spatial and chemical specificity are considered as promising carriers. However, it remains a formidable challenge to endow hollow nanomaterials with precisely controlled multisized macro/mesoporous structures up to now. This paper demonstrates a “polydopamine (PDA) expansion–shrinkage” strategy combined with a monomicelle interfacial confined assembly method to achieve the highly controllable preparation of a series of yolk@shell PDA@SiO₂ composite nanoparticles with structural asymmetry and a tunable multisized pore in the shell. The strategy allows systematic manipulation of the average pore size of large slit pores in the range of 15.4–86.5 nm by adjusting the reaction temperature. Benefiting from advantages such as an asymmetric structure and multilevel porosity, they exhibit excellent performance in the applications of on-demand loading of dual-sized cargoes, dual-propelled nanomotors, and particle size-selected encapsulation and separation. These findings provide inspiration for the construction of asymmetric yolk@shell structures with tunable multisized pores for a wide range of biological and chemical applications.