Synthesis and characterization of graphene–mesoporous silica nanoparticle hybrids

We report the synthesis of graphene–mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) hybrids by selective growth of the latter on graphene oxide sheets using a cationic surfactant-templated method. The MSNs were just a few tens of nanometers in size, exhibited internal mesopores ∼3.7–4 nm wide and appeared to be firmly attached to the graphene sheets. The nanoparticles could also be produced with varying densities on the graphene support, from isolated entities up to close-packed monolayers uniformly coating both sides of the sheets, which allowed fine-tuning the porous texture of the materials on the basis of their interparticle porosity. The experimental conditions that afford the generation of these graphene–MSN hybrids are also discussed.

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► Synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticles selectively on graphene sheets by soft templating.
► The nanoparticles are a few tens of nanometers large with 4 nm wide pores.
► Nanoparticle density and textural details of the hybrid determined by amount of silica precursor used.
► The experimental conditions that afford the hybrids are discussed.