A Universal Micelle Assembly Strategy for Coating Mesoporous Al₂O₃ Shells on Diverse Interfaces

Abstract The fabrication of mesoporous Al 2 O 3 shells on the diverse interfaces of functional cores through a facile and effective synthetic methodology still remains a great challenge owing to the fast hydrolysis and nucleation process of Al 2 O 3 precursors. Herein, a universal monomicelle‐directed interfacial assembly strategy is developed for coating mesoporous Al 2 O 3 shells on the diverse interfaces of functional cores, including phenolic resol (RF) nanospheres, graphene, RF‐coated Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @RF), etc. This synthesis features the introduction of a dual‐acid system composed of hydrochloric acid and acetic acid to finely regulate the hydrolysis and crosslinking rates of the Al 2 O 3 precursor and match the assembly rate with surfactant molecules. Then, the alumina‐based monomicelles can be assembled at the interface of various functional cores to form core–shell structured composites (cores@M‐Al 2 O 3 ). The resultant C@M‐Al 2 O 3 exhibits excellent monodispersity, uniform size (≈420 nm), a high specific surface area (162 m 2 g −1 ), a large pore size (≈4 nm), and strong Lewis acidity. Additionally, various inorganic and organic Al 2 O 3 precursors can be used to coat mesoporous Al 2 O 3 shells onto the functional cores. This work aims to provide insights for the controllable construction of mesoporous Al 2 O 3 shells on the diverse interfaces of functional cores.