Having it both ways: delicate hierarchical structure and robust mechanical stability on micro/nanomaterials with mesoporous silica coating

Mesoporous silica (meso-SiO₂) was coated on the micro/nanomaterials with hierarchical structure such as flowerlike Fe₂O₃, flowerlike MgO, SnO₂ nanospheres, Co₃O₄ nanosheets and nanowires from a simple solution method. The structure of the nanomaterials and the silica coating before and after stirring in solution were characterizated by SEM and TEM. The results show that meso-SiO₂ coating was an ideal method to enhance the structural stability of fragile nanomaterials. The catalysis stability of flowerlike MgO was also enhanced by the meso-SiO₂ coating.