Self-assembly of 2D MnO₂ nanosheets into high-purity aerogels with ultralow density.

ABSTRACT: Self-assembling inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) into macroscopic three dimensional (3D) architectures often requires the assistance of organic components, leaving residual organics in the resultant. In this work, organic-free MnO₂ aerogels with ultralow density have been achieved by the self-assembly of two dimensional (2D) MnO₂ nanosheets via an ice-templating approach. To the authors' best knowledge, it is the first reported case of constructing a high-purity inorganic aerogel from preformed NPs without using any functionalization or stabilization agents. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that an ultralight MnO₂ aerogel with a density as low as ∼0.53 mg cm^-3, which is the lightest metal oxide aerogel to date, can be well obtained by such

SUBMITTER: Liu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5966798 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature