Effect of synthesis conditions on preparation of mesoporous titania-silica by a modified sol-gel technique using a cationic surfactant

Titania-silica mesoporous materials have been synthesized by a modified sol-gel technique using a cationic surfactant. The synthesis process was studied using statistical design of experiments to achieve the best conditions for titania-silica preparation. The synthesized materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM and surface area measurements. The XRD and SEM results showed an amorphous structure of titania-silica. The surface area measurements using nitrogen adsorption showed type-IV isotherms which indicate the formation of mesoporous structure. A high surface area can be obtained (685 m²/g). The crystal size of titania-silica calculated using Scherrer’s equation was found to be in the range 8–15 nm.     

混合阳离子-非离子表面活性剂为模板剂合成含沸石次级结构单元的介孔分子筛

利用混合阳离子-非离子表面活性剂为模板剂采用两步晶化法合成了孔壁具有沸石次级结构单元的介孔分子筛，通过XRD、N2吸附-脱附、FT-IR以及异丙苯裂解探针反应等手段对样品进行了表征。结果表明，合成的介孔材料在结构上与相应的M41S材料类似，无微孔沸石相的存在。立方介孔材料具有较高的热稳定性和水热稳定性，在催化异丙苯裂解反应中，六方介孔材料的催化活性明显高于相似条件下用单一表面活性剂为模板剂合成的含沸石次级结构单元的六方介孔材料。     

Influence of the Synthesis pH on Sorption Behavior of Mesoporous MCM-41 for Toxic Metal Ions

Two samples of mesoporous MCM‐41 have been prepared in acidic and basic conditions with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template and characterized by powder X‐ray diffraction and N₂ adsorption‐desorption measurement to confirm the ordered mesoporous structure. Sorption of 21 toxic metal ions on these sorbents has been studied and discussed. The results show that distribution coefficient of Ba(II), Fe(III), Th(IV) on the synthesized MCM‐41 in basic condition and Cu(II), Pb(II), Zr(IV) on the synthesized MCM‐41 in acidic condition has been enhanced.     

Protein adsorption on the mesoporous molecular sieve silicate SBA-15: effects of pH and pore size

A mesoporous molecular sieve silicate, SBA-15, with three pore sizes (38.1 A, 77.3 A, and 240 A) has been synthesized using a non-ionic, tri-block copolymer as a template in a sol-gel method. The effects of synthesis conditions on the pore size and pore-size distribution of this adsorbent have been described. The adsorption of proteins on these crystalline, ordered, materials has been studied. The kinetics of adsorption and equilibrium capacity have been probed with three proteins of different dimensions. The effects of electrostatic interactions and protein size are illustrated. It has been shown that SBA-15 materials can be tailored to show size selectivity for proteins, and very high capacities (450 mg/g) can be obtained. Furthermore, the rates of adsorption are shown to be dependent on the pore size, protein structure and solution pH.     

中孔分子筛MCM-41的合成与表征

以白炭黑和正硅酸乙酯为硅源,十二、十六烷基三甲基铵为模板剂,用水热法和室温直接法合成出中孔分子筛MCM-41,考察了对合成的影响因素,用红外光谱、吸附、孔分布、热分析等手段对这两种产物进行了表征。结果表明:这种分子筛可以在很宽的配比范围内获得,但较高水硅比更有利于合成;在水硅比较低的体系中得到了一种类MCM-41中孔相(亦应属于MCM-41),其XRD衍射峰较宽,2θ角度偏低,具有类似于无定形硅铝酸盐的骨架结构。     

Effect of N-doping on hard carbon nano-balls as anode for Li-ion battery: improved hydrothermal synthesis and volume expansion study

Using an improved single-step hydrothermal method, mesoporous hard carbon nano-balls, with nitrogen doping, have been successfully synthesized. These materials exhibit good reversible charge capacity during half-cell tests. Gravimetric capacity for undoped nano-sized and micron-sized mesoporous hard carbon balls is 506 and 475 mAh g^?1, respectively. After nitrogen doping, the specific gravimetric capacities of both nano- and micron-sized carbon balls increase by 6.9 and 8%, respectively. Nitrogen doping enhances retention in specific capacity of both anode materials, particularly in nano-sized carbon balls with capacity retention of 83.9% after 100 cycles. The enhancement is attributed to a significant decrease in volume expansion due to the nitrogen doping. Density functional theory-based computation confirms the reduction of volume expansion by 60%. Improved electrochemical performance of nitrogen-doped hard carbon is due to the drop in volume expansion rate during lithiation along with increased porosity and electronic conductivity. Furthermore, this one-step synthesis can be extended to other carbon sources to get nitrogen-doped hard carbon with sizes varying from micro to nano.     

Temperature Dependence in the Synthesis of SBA-16-Type Mesoporous Silica with Pluronic F68 Block Copolymer

By adjusting the local effective surfactant packing parameter through synthesis temperature, highly ordered SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials have been synthesized by templating with a nonionic triblock copolymer Pluronic F68 in strongly acidic conditions at temperature 30～40°C with the addition of K₂SO₄. The prepared SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials having Im3m cubic mesostructure were proved by the well-defined x-ray diffraction patterns combined with transmission electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that a transformation from faced-sphere to faced-polyhedron shape morphologies could be induced with increasing of the synthesis temperature. The nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis revealed that the mean pore size (5.50～6.13 nm) of the prepared materials increased with increasing synthesis temperature. However, when the synthesis temperature exceeded 46°C, only disordered mesoporous silca was obtained. Our synthesis strategies by adjusting the local effective surfactant packing parameter through synthesis condition, even in a narrow range, would be used not only to optimize the synthesis conditions of reported mesoporous silca, but also to fabricate new mesoporous silica materials with well-ordered channel and anticipated morphologies.     

Hydrothermally Stable and Catalytically Active Ordered Mesoporous Materials Assembled from Preformed Zeolite Nanoclusters

Microporous zeolites are widely used commercial catalysts, but their applications are intrinsically limited by their small channel diameters. Recent progress in solving this is used to ordered mesoporous materials such as MCM-41, HMS and SBA-15. These mesoporous materials have pore diameters of 30–60 Å and exhibit catalytic properties for the catalytic conversion of bulky reactants, but unfortunately, when compared with microporous zeolites, the catalytic activity and hydrothermal stability are relatively low, which severely hinders their practical applications. The relatively low catalytic activity and hydrothermal stability can be attributed to the amorphous nature of the mesoporous walls. We review here that the assembly of preformed zeolite precursors with surfactants can synthesize a series of ordered mesoporous materials, which include (1) strongly acidic and hydrothermally stable mesoporous aluminosilicates synthesized in alkaline media; (2) strongly acidic and hydrothermally stable mesoporous aluminosilicates synthesized in strongly acidic media; (3) hydrothermally stable mesoporous titanosilicates with catalytically active titanium species in oxidations; (4) hydrothermally stable mesoporous ferrisilicates. This work would open a door for the industrial application of mesoporous materials as catalysts for large molecules.     

Thermal stability of Ti–MCM-41

Ti containing mesoporous MCM-41 materials have been synthesized through two methods: heating and non-heating [room temperature (RT)]. The synthesized materials have been characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, nitrogen sorption, and X-ray fluorescence methods and their thermal stabilities evaluated using thermogravimetric methods in inert atmosphere. The thermal stabilities have been analyzed based on the synthesis method, as well as on the amount of titanium in the MCM-41 materials. The thermal stability results suggest that uncalcined MCM-41 materials generally show higher mass loss than their calcined counterparts. Also, the RT-synthesized materials showed lower stability than the high-temperature synthesized samples for the uncalcined samples. It is also been found that MCM-41 materials show improved thermal stabilities as the amount of titanium is increased.     

In Situ and Post Reaction Cobalt-Incorporation into Periodic Mesoporous Ethanesilica Materials

Cobalt incorporated periodic mesoporous organosilica materials were synthesized in situ by condensation of 1,2-bistrimethoxysilylethane (BTME) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and cobalt nitrate and by incipient wetness addition of Co to BTME mesoporous silica. BET and pore measurements as well as DTA and TGA analysis of the materials revealed that the mesoporous structure is retained under the synthetic conditions used, after solvent extraction and importantly to temperatures of ca. 400°C under N₂. Raman spectroscopy also revealed the presence of the ethane moiety in the Co materials and that the surfactant was removed by solvent extraction. BET and pore measurement studies revealed that the surface area and pore volume of the materials decreased with increasing cobalt loading. The studies indicate that the new Co materials have potential as Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.     

Nanoporous silica films containing aluminum and titanium

By utilizing surfactant aggregates as supramolecular templates, mesoporous and mesostructured silicas with highly ordered structures became available. The resulting mesoporous silicas are promising candidates to host various photo- and electro-active species along with catalytically active species, due to their large and controllable pore sizes, highly ordered pore arrangements with low dimensional geometries, and reactive surfaces. We have developed the rapid solvent evaporation method, which is a modified sol-gel process, for synthesizing the mesostructured silica-surfactant films as well as the mesoporous silica films. Supported thin films, self-standing films and bubbles of mesoporous silicas have been synthesized by the rapid solvent evaporation method. The microstructures of the films have also been successfully controlled by changing the synthetic conditions. Taking advantage of the ease of synthetic operation and the transparency and homogeneity of the resulting materials, we have been interested in the introduction of functional units into the mesostructured materials. This paper reports the synthesis of transparent films of titanium- and aluminum-containing nanoporous silicas to modify the surface properties (such as adsorptive and catalytic) of nanoporous silicas. The incorporation of Al led to the formation of cation exchange or acidic sites on the mesopore surface, as revealed by the cationic dye adsorption experiments. The photocatalytic reactions of the Ti-containing nanoporous silica films were also examined.     

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.     

Highly stable mesoporous metal oxides using nano-propping hybrid gemini surfactants

Noble Gemini surfactants containing a siloxane moiety have been designed and successfully synthesized in the present study and are utilized as structure-directing agents for mesoporous metal oxides such as zirconia, titania, and vanadia. The siloxane moiety is believed to play an important nano-propping role during the surfactant removal by direct calcination, yielding thermally stable mesoporous metal oxides. It is also believed that the synthesis strategy described here can be applied to the synthesis of robust nanostructured materials such as nanoparticles and nanorods in addition to mesoporous materials.     

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.     

Structure and surface chemistry in crystalline mesoporous (CeO(2-δ))-YSZ

Mesoporous metal oxides (CeO(2-δ))-YSZ have been synthesized by a versatile direct synthesis method using ionic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and different nonionic (block copolymers) as surfactants and urea as hydrolyzing agent. The synthesis was realized at pH=9 using tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) as pH mediator. Calcination at 550 °C led to the formation of crystalline metal oxides with uniform mesoporosity. The obtained materials have been characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTG), wide and small-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). All the obtained materials exhibits mesoporous structure, crystalline structure indexed in a cubic symmetry, showing a high surface area, a uniform and narrow pore size distribution, spherical morphology typical for the mesoporous materials. The crystalline and mesoporous structures, surface chemistry and stoichiometry for the samples synthesized using ionic and nonionic surfactants have been discussed.     

A two-step route to synthesis of small-pored and thick-walled SBA-16-type mesoporous silica under mildly acidic conditions

Highly ordered SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials were synthesized by using poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide-b-ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer (EO(132)-PO(50)-EO(132), Pluronic F108) as template through a two-step pathway under mildly acidic conditions (pH 2.15-4.50). The highly ordered cage-like mesoporosity of the prepared SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials having Im3m cubic mesostructure was proved by the well-defined X-ray diffraction patterns combined with transmission electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy shows a variation from the spherical agglomerations to the randomly shaped ones with an increase of pH value. The nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis reveals that the prepared SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials have a uniform small-sized pore diameter (3.37-4.24 nm) and very thick pore wall (8.84-10.2 nm). These features may make the SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials synthesized in this study favor the incorporation of catalytically active heteroatoms in silica frameworks, and the functionalization of organic groups for applications in catalysis, sensor and separation. The two-step synthetic method under the mildly acidic conditions can also be extended to the production in the industrial scale as an environmentally friendly way.     

Synthesis of SBA-15 from low cost silica precursor obtained from sugarcane leaf ash and its application as a support matrix for lipase in biodiesel production

Ordered mesoporous silica material was synthesized from a low-cost precursor, sugarcane leaf ash, was used as a support matrix for lipase for the production of biodiesel. The mesoporous samples were characterized using Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy. The surface topography and morphology of the mesoporous materials were studied using scanning electron microscope. The pore diameter, pore volume, Brunauer Emmett and Teller surface area of the mesoporous material were determined by N₂ gas adsorption technique. Different pore size Santa Barbara Acid-15 (SBA-15) samples were synthesized and their lipase immobilization capacity and specific enzyme activity of immobilization lipase were determined and compared. Lipase from Candida Antarctica immobilized on SBA-15 (C) had shown maximum percentage immobilization and specific enzyme activity. The immobilized lipase mesoporous matrix was used for biodiesel production from crude non-edible Calophyllum inophyllum oil. The percentage yield of fatty acid methyl ester, 97.6 % was obtained under optimized conditions: 100 mg of lipase immobilized on SBA-15, 6:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, the reaction of 2 g C. inophyllum oil with methanol.     

Synthesis, characterization, and catalytic properties of stable mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41 prepared from zeolite mordenite

Mesoporous molecular sieves (denoted as M-MCM-41) with ordered hexagonal structure have been successfully synthesized from the assembly of precursors from preformed zeolite Mordenite with CTAB surfactant micelle in alkaline media. The samples were characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption, IR and DTG. The materials exhibit highly hydrothermal stability, as compared with conventional MCM-41. Characterization results indicate that the mesoporous walls of M-MCM-41 contain the secondary building units similar to those in microporous crystal of zeolite Mordenite. In catalytic dealkylation of C10⁺ aromatic hydrocarbon, M-MCM-41 shows higher activities in comparison with Mordenite and MCM-41, which would be ascribed to the combination of advantages of both MCM-41 (large pores) and Mordenite (strong acidity). Furthermore, this synthesis strategy could be used as a new general method for the preparation of hydrothermally stable mesoporous aluminosilicate materials under alkaline conditions.     

不同酸对介孔二氧化硅球表面形貌和介相结构的影响

在室温、不同酸性条件下合成出微米级球形介孔二氧化硅材料，通过XRD、SEM以及氮气吸附等手段对介孔二氧化硅材料进行了表征。用TEM跟踪不同反应时间介孔二氧化硅球的形成，对这些球颗粒的合成机理进行了讨论，同时探讨了不同酸性条件下介孔二氧化硅表面形貌和介相结构的变化。     

Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Materials: Self‐Assembly of Carbamothioic Acid‐Bridged Organosilane Precursors

A new series of carbamothioic acid‐containing periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) materials has been synthesized by a direct cocondensation method, in which an organosilica precursor N,S‐bis[3‐(triethoxysilyl)propyl]carbamothioic acid (MI) is treated with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), and the nonionic surfactant Pluronic 123 (P123) is used as a template under acidic conditions in the presence of inorganic additives. Moreover, the synthesis of the PMO material consisting of the MI precursor without TEOS has been realized. These novel PMO materials have large surface areas, well‐ordered mesoporous structures, hollow fiberlike morphologies, and thick walls. They are also structurally well‐ordered with a high organosilica precursor content, and the carbamothioic acid groups are thermally stable up to 250 °C. Furthermore, the organosilica materials exhibit hydrothermal stability in basic solution.