Preparation of Multilayered 1,2-Ethylene-silica Nanotubes Through a Dual-templating Approach

Multilayered 1,2-ethylene-silica nanotubes were prepared with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB) as a template and (S)-β-citronellol(CN) as a co-structure-directing agent. For a better understanding of the formation of this structure, the CN/CTAB molar ratio in the reaction mixtures was tuned. With increasing the CN/CTAB molar ratio, a hexagonal to lamellar phase trasformation was observed; and the morphologies of 1,2-ethylene-silica changed from rod to vesicle and then to tubular structure. CN droplets were proposed as the templates for the nanotubes. The obtained samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.