Highly ordered macroporous–mesoporous Ce_0.4Zr_0.6O₂ as dual-functional material in a polysulfide polymer

A highly hierarchically ordered macroporous–mesoporous Ce_0.4Zr_0.6O₂ solid solution with crystalline framework walls was directly and simply prepared using polystyrene (PS) microspheres and a block copolymer as dual templates. The PS microspheres and block copolymer were assembled into colloidal crystals and mesoscopic rod-like micelles as macroporous and mesoporous templates, respectively, by a one-step process. This process offers a facile method to prepare hierarchically ordered porous materials. Compared to commercial ceria, the macroporous–mesoporous Ce_0.4Zr_0.6O₂ material significantly improved the ultraviolet resistance and mechanical performance of a polysulfide polymer. Because the ordered macroporous–mesoporous Ce_0.4Zr_0.6O₂ can disperse uniformly in the polysulfide polymer based on the open macroporous structure for diffusion and mobility and mesoporous structure for high surface areas. Furthermore, these results show that better-performing polysulfide polymers can be achieved by adding hierarchically structured materials.