Hybrid hollow silica particles: synthesis and comparison of properties with pristine particles.

In the past decade, interest in hollow silica particles has grown tremendously because of their applications in diverse fields such as thermal insulation, drug delivery, battery cathodes, catalysis, and functional coatings. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy to synthesize hybrid hollow silica particles having shells made of either polymer-silica or carbon-silica. Hybrid shells were characterized using electron microscopy. The effect of hybrid shell type on particle properties such as thermal and moisture absorption was also investigated.