Highly ordered Zn-doped mesoporous silica: An efficient catalyst for transesterification reaction

Designing highly ordered material with nanoscale periodicity is of great significance in the field of solid state chemistry. Herein, we report the synthesis of highly ordered 2D-hexagonal mesoporous zinc-doped silica using a mixture of anionic and cationic surfactants under hydrothermal conditions. Powder XRD, N₂ sorption, TEM analysis revealed highly ordered 2D-hexagonal arrangements of the pores with very good surface area (762 m² g⁻¹) in this Zn-rich mesoporous material. Chemical analysis shows very high loading of zinc (ca. 12.0 wt%) in the material together with retention of hexagonal pore structure. Interestingly, high temperature calcination resulted into zinc silicate phase, unlike any ZnO phase, which otherwise is expected under heat treatments. High surface area together with Zn loading in this mesoporous material has been found useful for the catalytic activity of the materials in the acid-catalyzed transesterification reactions of various esters under mild liquid phase conditions.