Abstract of US Patent 6,358,531 – Method for preparing porous shells or gels from glass particles: A method is provided for preparing shells, concentric shells or porous, homogenous gels from alkali borate glass particles at low temperatures (i.e. room temperature or less than above 100.degree. C.). The alkali borate glass particles contain one or more cations such as aluminum which react with an aqueous solution containing an anion such as hydroxide to form an aqueous insoluble material having a solubility limit of less than about 0.01 wt. percent. The resulting shells or gels may be used in many different applications such as a filler in resins, as filters, precursors for nano-sized powders, as thin surface films or catalyst support media. The resulting shells or gels may also have a chemotherapeutic drug added thereto, following which the resulting product is administered to a mammal and the insoluble material is dissolved form the product in vivo through administration of chelating agent. Non-Confidential Abstract of Invention: A method for producing hollow/porous shells from glass particles at or near room temperature has been developed. This method uses a glass of an appropriate composition, which is crushed and made into spheres of the desired size. These spheres are then immersed in an aqueous solution at or near room temperature. While immersed, the glass spheres react with the solution and corrode non-uniformly. Complete non-uniform corrosion converts the solid glass spheres into porous/hollow shells. These porous/hollow shells are the same size and shape as the Òas-madeÓ microspheres, but they can contain up to 90% porosity. The primary advantages of this technique are that: porous/hollow shells of varying size can quickly and easily be produced at low temperatures; many compositions can be prepared simply by adding different insoluble cations to the Òas-madeÓ glass; the porosity can be varied over wide limits; and the porous/hollow shells can be easily filled with various liquids or gases at room temperature. These hollow/porous shells could be used in many applications, such as fillers in light weight polymer matrix materials, fillers in paints, drug delivery systems and catalyst supports.

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