Recently, XJTU professor Wei Jingand other researchers from the research team led by professor Zhao Yongxi from the School of Life Science and Technology used metal-phenolic coordination polymers as a precursor, controlled the thermal decomposition of organic ligands and synthesized mesoporous metaloxides with different compositions (i.e., Al2O3, ZnO, Co3O4, Fe2O3, and CuO) and inner architectures on the basis of the basic principles of plant polyphenol coordination. Plant polyphenols have strong chelating ability with various metal ions. The simple process of thermal decomposition provides the possibility for low-cost and large-scale synthesis of MPCPs-derived mesoporous metal oxides. It can be widely applied in environmental catalysis, energy conversion and storage, gas sensing, biosensing and other fields.

The research result was published online in Advanced Functional Materials (Impact Factor:13.325), an international well-known journal in the materials field, under the title Self-Template Synthesis of Mesoporous Metal Oxide Spheres with Metal-Mediated Inner Architectures and Superior Sensing Performance. The Biomedical-information Engineering Laboratory of the State Ministry of Education in the School of Life Science and Technology is the institutional affiliation of the first author and the only corresponding author. Doctor Wang Gen from the School of Life Science and Technology, is the first author. Professor Wei Jing is the corresponding author.