Porous properties of silylated mesoporous silica and its hydrogen adsorption

Porous properties of mesoporous silica silylated with various organic silanes were examined and their hydrogen adsorption properties were measured at 77 K. By silylation of the mesoporous silica, the specific surface area, pore radius and pore volume steeply decreased depending on both the size of the silane and the amount actually incorporated into the mesoporous framework. The pores reduced in size depending on the amount of modifying silane and vanished completely in the samples silylated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and phenyltrichlorosilane. Hydrogen adsorption isotherms of the silylated samples were measured at 77 K. With the exception of the sample with phenyltrichlorosilane, hydrogen adsorption volumes were proportional to the surface area with a slope of around 1.1 molecules/nm². On the other hand, for the sample treated with phenyltrichlorosilane, a large hydrogen adsorption volume of around 38.1 molecules/nm² was obtained. On heating the silylated compounds at 500 °C, micropores formed and the hydrogen adsorption volume increased by 1.5 times or more due to the development of micropores.