Hierarchically macro/mesoporous silica monoliths constructed with interconnecting micrometer-sized unit rods

Under typical dilute reactant compositions (3 ~ 5 wt% of surfactant template concentration) and conventional hydrothermal conditions for mesoporous materials synthesis, successful preparation of hierarchically macro/mesoporous silica monoliths was reported in this paper. The resultant materials were characterized by a series of techniques including powder X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption–desorption, SEM, TEM/EDS, and Hg porosimetry. A new kind of stable and hierarchically porous pure silica monoliths was confirmed, which are featured with highly ordered mesoporous structures, rod-shaped unit particles, large specific surface area of 492 m²/g, continuous macropores of about 4.0 μm in size and high macropore volume of about 13.1 cm³/g. Moreover, using the resultant silica monoliths as hard templates, carbon monoliths have been successfully replicated, which inherit the structural characters of parent silica materials. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.