Controlling the reaction kinetics in solution for uniform nanoshells of metal sul?des with sub-nanometer accuracy

Core-shell nanostructiKes have found broad potentials in a large variety of applications including catalysis, biomedicine, and energy conversion/storage devices [1,2]. The unique structural configuration endows the compos让e a capability to combine advantages of both core and shell materials, and deliver optimized properties through a rational design of the components [3]. Accordingly, numerous research efforts have been directed to the synthesis control of the coating materials to build desired nanoshells. Particularly, silica-based core-shell structures have witnessed enormous success benefiting from the flexible synthesis capability ensured by the Stober process, which provides favorable growth kinetics in solution to build precise configuration of silica nanoshells su让ed for their applications, for example, silica-based nanocapsules for controlled drug delivery [4].