A general autocatalytic route toward silica nanospheres with ultrasmall sized and well-dispersed metal oxide nanoparticles.

A facile and efficient approach for the synthesis of metal ions@silica nanospheres is proposed by using an intramolecular autocatalytic route. By the rational selection of reactants, metal ions@silica nanospheres can be obtained via successive spontaneous reactions under near neutral conditions. After thermal treatment, spherical silica equipped with ultrasmall and highly dispersed metal oxides nanoparticles was obtained.