Journal of Materials Science, Vol.42, No.2, 465-471, 2007
Synthesis and characterization of ordered and cubic mesoporous silica crystals under a moderately acidic condition
Ordered and cubic mesoporous silica materials were synthesized by using poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide-b-ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer as template under a moderately acidic condition of 0.5 mol/l HCl solution. These mesoporous materials were characterized by Fourier transform (FT) IR spectroscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. The three-dimensional cage-like microporosity of the prepared mesoporous silica having ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure was evidenced by the well-defined XRD patterns combined with TEM photographs. SEM observation shows a highly regular cubic crystal structure for the prepared mesoporous silica. The size of these crystallites was maintained within the range between 4 and 6 mu m, which is fairly important for the application to the stationary phase for separation. The nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis reveals that the prepared mesoporous silica possesses a small pore diameter of 3.68 nm, a total surface area of 363.648 m(2)/g, a total pore volume of 0.379 cm(3)/g, and a pore-wall thickness of 6.63 nm. These features may lead to higher thermal and hydrothermal stability, excellent microporosity, and good connectivity. The mesoporous silica prepared in this study exhibits potential applications to catalysis, sensoring, and separation.