Patent attributes
Novel nanoparticle-coated multilayer shell microstructures are disclosed herein. Some variations of the invention provide a material comprising a plurality of hollow microstructures characterized by an average shortest diameter from about 5 microns to about 1 millimeter, wherein each of the microstructures comprises multiple shells, including at least an inner shell and an outmost shell, with a combined thickness that is less than one-tenth of the average shortest diameter. The inner shell and the outmost shell have different composition. The outmost shell comprises nanoparticles sized between about 10 nanometers to about 500 nanometers, and the nanoparticles each contain an oxide and/or are surrounded by an oxide layer having a layer thickness of at least 1 nanometer. Several microstructure configurations are illustrated in the drawings.
