In 2025, the silica sector focuses on technological cross-border integration and scenario expansion, achieving multiple breakthroughs in emerging directions such as intelligent materials, environmental governance, and biomedicine, driving materials to upgrade from basic support to functional core.

In the field of intelligent materials, new progress has been made in silica-based photoresponsive materials. By grafting azobenzene derivatives onto the surface of silica nanoparticles, the research team has developed an intelligent material with both photoresponsiveness and biocompatibility. It can achieve reversible particle size regulation under light of a specific wavelength, with a response time as short as 30 seconds. The material has been tested in intelligent drug delivery systems, capable of precisely controlling drug release rates and providing a new tool for targeted tumor therapy. Meanwhile, it can be applied in intelligent coatings, adjusting surface hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity through light irradiation to switch between self-cleaning and anti-fog functions.

In the field of environmental governance, the efficiency of silica composite adsorbent materials has been upgraded. The mesoporous silica/magnetic iron oxide composite material prepared by the template method has a specific surface area of over 1200 m²/g, and its adsorption capacity for pollutants such as antibiotics and dyes in water is twice that of traditional materials. Thanks to its magnetism, it can be quickly separated and recovered, and the adsorption efficiency remains above 85% after 10 cycles of reuse. In addition, the silica-based denitration catalyst for air pollution control, modified by rare earth element doping, achieves a denitration efficiency of over 90% in the wide temperature range of 200-400°C, reducing nitrogen oxide emissions to below 50 mg/m³, which is suitable for industrial boilers, motor vehicle exhaust treatment and other scenarios.

The cross-border integration of silica materials is breaking industry boundaries. Its breakthroughs in intelligent response, precise governance, and biological adaptation will continue to drive technological innovation in multiple industries, injecting new momentum into high-quality development.