Although great progress in the synthesis of porous networks of
metal and metal oxide nanoparticles with highly accessible pore
surface and ordered mesoscale pores has been achieved, synthesis of
assembled 3D mesostructures of metal-chalcogenide nanocrystals is
still challenging. In this work we demonstrate that ordered
mesoporous networks, which comprise well-defined interconnected
metal sulfide nanocrystals, can be prepared through a
polymer-templated oxidative polymerization process. The resulting
self-assembled mesostructures that were obtained after solvent
extraction of the polymer template impart the unique combination of
light-emitting metal chalcogenide nanocrystals, three-dimensional
open-pore structure, high surface area, and uniform pores. We show
that the pore surface of these materials is active and accessible to
incoming molecules, exhibiting high photocatalytic activity and
stability, for instance, in oxidation of 1-phenylethanol into
acetophenone. We demonstrate through appropriate selection of the
synthetic components that this method is general to prepare ordered
mesoporous materials from metal chalcogenide nanocrystals with
various sizes and compositions.

From: Ioannis Vamvasakis, Kota S. Subrahmanyam,
Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, and Gerasimos S. Armatas,
“Template-Directed
Assembly of Metal-Chalcogenide Nanocrystals into Ordered Mesoporous Networks”
ACS Nano.,
9(4), 4419-4426 (2015).