Transition metal-chelating surfactant micelle templates for facile synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Highly ordered mesoporous silica nanoparticles with tunable morphology and pore-size are prepared by the use of a transition metal-chelating surfactant micelle complex using Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ ions. These metal ions formed a metal-P123 micelle complex in an aqueous solution, while the metal ions are chelated to the hydrophilic domain such as the poly(ethylene oxide) group of a P123 surfactant. The different complexation abilities of the utilized transition metal ions play an important role in determining the formation of nano-sized ordered MSNs due to the different stabilization constant of the metal-P123 complex. Consequently, from a particle length of 1700 nm in the original mesoporous silica materials, the particle length of ordered MSNs through the metal-chelating P123 micelle templates can be reduced to a range of 180–800 nm. Furthermore, the variation of pore size shows a slight change from 8.8 to 6.6 nm. In particular, the Cu²⁺-chelated MSNs show only decreased particle size to 180 nm. The stability constants for the metal-P123 complex are calculated on the basis of molar conductance measurements in order to elucidate the formation mechanism of MSNs by the metal-chelating P123 complex templates. In addition, solid-state ²⁹Si, ¹³C-NMR and ICP-OES measurements are used for quantitative characterization reveal that the utilized metal ions affect only the formation of a metal-P123 complex in a micelle as a template.     

Effect of salts on synthesis of mesoporous materials with mixed cationic and anionic surfactants as templates

Mesoporous silica materials were synthesized using tetraеthoxysilane as precursor and liquid crystals formed in aqueous mixtures of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as templates, without and with the addition of NaBr or Na₂SO₄. For this purpose, the formation of liquid crystals as a function of the ratio of CTAB and SDS under different conditions was studied. It was found that liquid crystals formed in the mixed system of CTAB and SDS at certain mixing ratios are well-structured templates for the synthesis of mesoporous silicas. The synthesized silica materials were characterized by transmission electron microscope and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis. The pore size of mesoporous silicas could be controlled between 3 to 6 nm by simply changing the concentration of NaBr in solution. The mesoporous silicas exhibited lamellar structure and the order of structural arrangement was promoted with addition of NaBr. However, addition of Na₂SO₄ led to ink-bottle type pores of mesoporous silica with a narrow pore size distribution of around 2 nm and a higher specific surface area of 610 m² g^–1.     

Preparation of high-surface-area zinc oxide with ordered porosity, different pore sizes, and nanocrystalline walls

Transition-metal-oxide materials possessing ordered mesoporosity have recently attracted significant research interest due to their numerous potential applications. Among them, ordered mesoporous zinc oxide (ZnO) is a very tempting material because of the importance of ZnO in heterogeneous catalysis. Here, first results of the preparation of ordered mesoporous ZnO materials by using different templates are reported. Porous materials with high surface area, different pore sizes, and nanocrystalline ZnO walls were obtained. Furthermore, we compare the two fundamental templating techniques, involving liquid crystals or ordered mesoporous carbon materials as templates. Regarding the formation of mesoporous ZnO, it was evident that the hard-matter carbon template is superior.     

Mesoporous MgO: Synthesis,physico-chemical,and catalytic properties

Mesoporous MgO was obtained via the hydrothermal synthesis using both ionogenic and non-ionogenic surfactants as structure-directing templates. The materials prepared were characterized by SEM, BET-N₂, XRD, and TG-DTA techniques. MgO particles are spherical 20-μm aggregates of primary oxide particles well shaped as rectangular parallelepipeds. Magnesium oxide samples have the specific surface area of 290–400 m²/g and pore sizes of 3.3–4.1 nm. Their mesoporous structure remained unchanged after calcination up to 350°C. Catalytic activity of mesoporous MgO was studied in acetone condensation reaction.     

Investigating the effect of randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin/block copolymer molar ratio on the template-directed preparation of mesoporous alumina with tailored porosity

Supramolecular assemblies formed between cyclodextrins and block copolymers can be efficiently used as templates for the preparation of mesoporous materials with controlled porosity. In this work, we use dynamic light scattering (DLS) and viscosity measurements to follow the variations occurring in the size and morphology of the triblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (P123) micelles in the presence of various amounts of randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (RAMEB). The results obtained with a series of solution compositions reveal that the cyclodextrin-to-copolymer (RAMEB/P123) molar ratio plays a crucial role in the growth rate of the micelles. At low RAMEB/P123 molar ratios (below ~7.5), a swelling effect of the cyclodextrin in the P123 micelles is noticed together with a modification of the micellar curvature from spherical to ellipsoidal. At high molar ratios (~7.5 and above), an abrupt transition toward large supramolecular assemblies, which no longer resemble micelles, occurs. When the RAMEB-swollen P123 micelles are used as templates to direct the self-assembly of colloidal boehmite nanoparticles, mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ materials with high surface areas (360–400 m²/g), tunable pore sizes (10–20 nm), large pore volumes (1.3–2.0 cm³/g) and fiberlike morphologies are obtained under mild conditions. The composition of the mixed micellar solution, in particular the cyclodextrin-to-copolymer molar ratio, appears to be a key factor in controlling the porosity of alumina.     

Poly(ethylene oxide)-based surfactants as templates for the synthesis of mesoporous silica materials

Various mesoporous silica solids were prepared by using poly(ethylene oxide)-based surfactants as templates in a neutral, fluoride, or moderately acidic medium, and their properties examined by different physical techniques. Precipitation in an acid or neutral medium provided materials of pore size in between those of micropores and mesopores irrespective of the molecular size of the surfactant. On the other hand, syntheses in a fluoride-containing medium yielded mesoporous materials with pore diameters over the range 36-84 A that increased with increasing surfactant size. All materials possessed specific surface areas above 650 m(2)g(-1) and high pore volumes-particularly those obtained in a fluorinated medium. The conditions used in the syntheses and the fact that all produced highly disordered porous materials suggest that their mechanism of formation is essentially of the N(0)I(0) neutral type. The materials obtained in the presence of fluoride ion, which promote the condensation of siliceous species, retain greater amounts of surfactant and exhibit increased cross-linking and decreased particle sizes, which results in textural mesoporosity.     

Preparation of ordered mesoporous SiC from preceramic polymer templated by nanoporous silica

Highly ordered mesoporous SiC materials were prepared by infiltrating viscous liquid preceramic polymer, allylhydridopolycarbosilane, into two types of surface modified nanoporous silica templates: mesoporous silica SBA-15 and mesocellular siliceous foam. The silica templates were subsequently etched off after pyrolysis at 1000 degrees C under nitrogen atmosphere with the resultant formation of ordered mesoporous structures. The mesoporous SiC materials, synthesized from both types of templates possessed high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas in the range of 250-260 m(2)/g with pore sizes of 3.4-3.6 nm. The ordered structures of mesoporous SiC were exact inverse replicas of their respective silica templates, as characterized by small angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) images, and the adsorption-desorption isotherm of nitrogen.     

Synthesis, Characterization of Mesoporous Al-Mg Composite Oxide and Catalytic Performance for Oxyethylation of Fatty Alcohol

A mesoporous Al-Mg composite oxide with a hexagonal structure was synthesized with aluminium nitrate and magnesium nitrate as the reagents and sodium dodecyl sulfate（SDS） as the template in the presence of ethylenediamine. The XRD, nitrogen adsorption-desorption and TEM studies indicate that the composite has a hexagonal framework structure and an average pore diameter of 2. 6 nm. The TG/DTA spectra indicate that the decomposition and the removal of the occluded surfactant of the sample take place in a range of 230-550 ℃. The mesoporous Al-Mg composite oxide exhibites a highly catalytic activity for the oxyethylation of fatty alcohols. Narrow-range distributed ethoxylates are formed in the presence of the mesoporous Al-Mg composite oxide catalyst. The distribution selectivity coefficient（Cx） is 24 when the mesoporous Al-Mg composite oxide was used as a catalyst for the oxyethylation of octanol and the average adduct degree of ethoxylates is 6. 4.     

Electrochemical Characteristics of Discrete,Uniform, and Monodispersed Hollow Mesoporous Carbon Spheres in Double‐Layered Supercapacitors

Core–shell‐structured mesoporous silica spheres were prepared by using n‐octadecyltrimethoxysilane (C18TMS) as the surfactant. Hollow mesoporous carbon spheres with controllable diameters were fabricated from core–shell‐structured mesoporous silica sphere templates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). By controlling the thickness of the silica shell, hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) with different diameters can be obtained. The use of ethylene as the carbon precursor in the CVD process produces the materials in a single step without the need to remove the surfactant. The mechanism of formation and the role played by the surfactant, C18TMS, are investigated. The materials have large potential in double‐layer supercapacitors, and their electrochemical properties were determined. HCSs with thicker mesoporous shells possess a larger surface area, which in turn increases their electrochemical capacitance. The samples prepared at a lower temperature also exhibit increased capacitance as a result of the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) area and larger pore size.     

Preparation of a kind of mesoporous carbon and its performance in adsorptive desulfurization

Carbon materials were prepared using mesoporous silica HMS with different pore sizes as the hard templates and water-soluble phenolic resin as the carbon source. The obtained materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and N₂ physical adsorption, and were used in adsorptive desulfurization. It has been shown that the carbon material prepared using HMS with larger pore size (>3 nm) presented uniform wormlike mesopore of 2.3 nm and large BET surface area (1903 m²/g). The mesoporous carbon was an excellent adsorbent to remove the refractory sulfur compound in diesel, especially dibenzothiophene and 4, 6-dimethyldibenzothiophene.     

介孔二氧化钛的非有机模板剂法合成

 采用硫酸钛水解法在不使用有机模板剂的条件下合成了高热稳定的锐钛矿型介孔TiO2. 以工业硫酸钛溶液为原料,经两步水解得到介孔结构的偏钛酸, 500 ℃下焙烧后得到比表面积为202.2 m2/g、 平均孔径为2.8 nm并具有超强酸特性的介孔TiO2. 使用X射线衍射、 N2吸附、扫描电镜、 X射线能谱和红外光谱对该样品进行了表征,初步讨论了介孔的形成机理. 吸附在偏钛酸孔壁上的硫酸分子和孔壁上的自由羟基键合,起到了孔结构的导向作用及支撑作用.     

Copper sols stabilized by poly(ethylene glycol-600-monolaurate) and its complexes with poly(acrylic acid)

Copper sols stabilized by a polymer-colloid complex are studied via dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the polymer-colloid complex including poly(acrylic acid) and the nonionogenic polymeric surfactant poly(ethylene glycol-600-monolaurate) is an effective protector of copper nanoparticles formed via the reduction of Cu²⁺ ions in an aqueous medium. The sizes of sol particles of the nanocomposite consisting of the polymer-colloid complex and copper nanoparticles depend on the method of preparation of the nanocomposite. The incorporation of the copper nanoparticles being formed (an average diameter of 5 nm) into particles of the polymer-colloid complex leads to an insignificant change in the sizes of the complex particles. The same sizes are typical for particles of the nanocomposite formed during the introduction of surfactant micelles in the copper sol formed in the solution of poly(acrylic acid). The interaction of copper nanoparticles formed in an aqueous medium with surfactant micelles entails their aggregation; as a result, these nanoparticles turn out to be incorporated into large aggregates with equivalent radii of up to 100 nm. When poly(acrylic acid) is incorporated into this sol, the sizes of its particles insignificantly change apparently because of the low rate of structural rearrangements accompanying the formation of the polymer-colloid complex.     

Phase transitions of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane confined inside aluminosilicate and silicate nanoporous matrices

We report the melting behaviour of a dipolar cyclic siloxane liquid: octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS) confined in three mesoporous silica matrices: Al-SBA-15, SBA-15 and CPG glasses, using differential scanning calorimetry and dielectric spectroscopy. We investigate the influence of acid sites on the adsorptive properties of mesoporous silica materials, which were synthesized by applying Pluronic-type polymers as pore-creating agents. Aluminosilicate matrices have been synthesized by direct synthesis procedure using aluminium chloride. These materials characterized by N₂ sorption measurements, and the small-angle X-ray scattering data exhibit the same hexagonal P6 mm structure with a mean mesopores size of 4.6 nm (Al-SBA-15) and 4.9 nm (SBA-15). The controlled pore glasses used in this experiment have pores of mean diameter of 7.5 nm. For all systems studied, the OMCTS melting point in pores has been found to decrease with decreasing pore diameter. This result is in qualitative agreement with that obtained in molecular simulation where the adsorbate-wall interactions are weak compared to the adsorbate–adsorbate interactions.     

Organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous silicas: functionalization, pore size, and morphology control

Topological design of mesoporous silica materials, pore architecture, pore size, and morphology are currently major issues in areas such as catalytic conversion of bulky molecules, adsorption, host-guest chemistry, etc. In this sense, we discuss the pore size-controlled mesostructure, framework functionalization, and morphology control of organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous silicas by which we can improve the applicability of mesoporous materials. First, we explain that the sizes of hexagonal- and cubic-type pores in organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous silicas are well controlled from 24.3 to 98.0 A by the direct micelle-control method using an organosilica precursor and surfactants with different alkyl chain lengths or triblock copolymers as templates and swelling agents incorporated in the formed micelles. Second, we describe that organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous materials with various functional groups form various external morphologies such as rod, cauliflower, film, rope, spheroid, monolith, and fiber shapes. Third, we discuss that transition metals (Ti and Ru) and rare-earth ions (Eu(3+) and Tb(3+)) are used to modify organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous silica materials. Such hybrid mesoporous silica materials are expected to be applied as excellent catalysts for organic reactions, photocatalysis, optical devices, etc.     

Characterization Studies on the Ionic Liquid-Templated Mesoporous Silica with Wormlike Pores

This article reports a novel preparation of wormlike mesoporous silica with 1-hexadecane-3-methylimidazolium bromide (C₁₆MIM)Br, a kind of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), as a template via a sol-gel nanocasting technique. The characterization studies were carried out in contrast with that of the mesoporous silica with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a usually used template, which has the same alkyl chain length with (C₁₆MIM)Br. The structures of the silica materials have been characterized by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) and N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements. The results show that both the mesoporous materials prepared with different templates respectively can form regular wormlike mesopores with ca. 2 nm in pore diameter. They also have large BET surface areas with narrow size distribution. Compared to the CTAB-template mesoporous silica, the material with (C₁₆MIM)Br as a template has highly uniform pore size and larger surface area. In addition, the formation mechanism of the wormlike mesopores with RTIL has been proposed by an electrostatic charge matching assembly-pathway and steric factor.     

Pore size distribution of micelle-templated silicas studied by thermoporosimetry using water and n-heptane

Thermoporosimetry, i.e., DSC measurements of melting point depression of water and heptane confined in mesopores, has been used for determination the pore size distribution of several mesoporous silicas synthesized with the use of micelle templates. Porosity of these materials was additionally characterized by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and quasi-equilibrated thermodesorption of nonane. The pore size distributions obtained using the water thermoporosimetry were similar to those determined using the other methods, but the pore size values found for the narrow pore materials were underestimated by ca 1?nm. Too large pore sizes obtained for the wide pore silica from heptane thermoporosimetry were attributed to nonlinear dependence of the melting point depression on the reciprocal of the pore size.     

Directly assembling ligand-free ZnO nanocrystals into three-dimensional mesoporous structures by oriented attachment

Mesoporous materials have found a great number of important utilities due to their well-defined pore structure and high internal surface area, which are routinely synthesized with the assistance of block copolymers or templates. So far, a key challenge is how to assemble directly ligand-free inorganic nanocrystals into mesoporous structures, so that the high surface activity of ligand-free nanocrystals is not destroyed by further treatment to remove organic species or templates. In this paper, we report the direct assembly of highly uniform ZnO mesoporous ellipsoids from ligand-free ZnO nanocrystals of ～5 nm. The size of the synthesized uniform ZnO mesoporous ellipsoids can be efficiently tuned from 132 × 75 to 190 × 111 nm (length × width), by varying the size and concentration of primary ZnO nanocrystal building blocks and the composition of the designed assembling solvent. The BET detection indicates that these ZnO mesoporous ellipsoids have high specific surface areas reaching to 136.57 m(2)/g, while their average BJH pore diameters are located at 8.8 nm. Especially, the high-resolution TEM images and XRD analysis revealed the occurrence of an oriented attachment mechanism in the assembly of uniform ZnO mesoporous ellipsoids, which supplied an important proof for the possibility of constructing stable three-dimensional structures by oriented attachment. The benefits of these ZnO mesoporous ellipsoids were demonstrated by their excellent photocatalytic activity under weak UV irradiation.     

双模板法制备介孔／大孔复合孔结构硅胶独石

采用双模板法,向正硅酸甲酯的水解体系中同时引入聚乙二醇和三嵌段共聚物,成功制备出具有双连续大孔、同时孔壁中分布着有序介孔的复合孔结构硅胶独石材料. 产物的比表面积高达880 m2/g, 大孔孔径为0.2～5 μm, 介孔高度集中地分布在 5 nm. 结合物理吸附、扫描电镜、粉末X射线衍射和透射电镜等表征手段,发现合成条件如原料组成、反应温度和pH值等对反应体系中凝胶化转变和相分离发生的相对速度有重要影响,进而影响产物复合孔结构的生成. 此外,通过对合成条件的优化,一方面增强了无机骨架的强度,另一方面降低了湿凝胶干燥过程中的毛细管压力降,有效缓和了凝胶结构在干燥过程中的开裂和变形,使复合孔结构硅胶独石在厘米尺度内具有良好的整体性能.     

Tunable pores in mesoporous silica films studied using a pulsed slow positron beam

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) based on a pulsed slow positron beam was applied to study mesoporous silica films, synthesized using amphiphilic PEO–PPO–PEO triblock copolymers as structure-directing agents. The pore size depends on the loading of different templates. Larger pores were formed in silica films templated by copolymers with higher molecular-weights. Using 2-dimensional PALS, open porosity of silica films was also found to be influenced by the molecular-weight as well as the ratio of hydrophobic PPO moiety of the templates.     

Utilization of Environmentally Benign Dicyandiamide as a Precursor for the Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Nitride and its Application in Base‐Catalyzed Reactions

Assisted by a new dissolution procedure, dicyandiamide (DCDA), an environmentally benign and cheap precursor, has been employed for the synthesis of mesoporous carbon nitride (CN) materials through a nanocasting approach. The synthesized mesoporous materials possessed high specific surface areas (269–715 m² g^?1) with narrow pore‐size distributions (about 5 nm) and faithfully replicated the mesostructures of the SBA‐15 and FDU‐12 templates. Several characterization techniques, including XRD, SAXS, TEM, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, XPS, and CO₂‐TPD, were used to analyze the physicochemical properties of these materials and the results showed that the mesoporous CND materials had graphitic‐like structures and consisted of CN heterocycles, as well as amino groups. In a series of Knoevenagel condensation reactions, as exemplified by the reaction of various aldehydes and nitriles, these mesoporous CND materials demonstrated high and stable catalytic activities, owing to an abundance of basic sites.