Mesoporous silver films from dilute mixed-surfactant solutions by using dip-coating

Mesoporous silver films (see figure) are synthesized by using a dip-coating method, employing dilute mixed-surfactant solutions, which allows the creation of films over a large area of substrate and uses a smaller amount of surfactant than previous syntheses using lyotropic liquid-crystalline solutions. Ordered 2D hexagonal mesoporous silver films form under conditions of moderate humidity by using photocatalytic reduction.