Preparation and Characterization of Mesoporous Micelle-Templated Silica Materials Produced by Sol-Gel Method
In the present paper, three micelle- templated materials were synthesized by sol- gel method using tetra ethoxysilane (TEOS) as silicon source and cationic or non-ionic surfactants as templates. Mesoporous structure was formed by complete removal of templates in the calcination process. The effects of concentration and type of template on the characteristics, such as pore size, pore size distribution, pore volume and surface area were studied from nitrogen adsorption- desorption isotherms. Textural characteristics were determined using BET and BJH methods. Surface morphology of mesoporous materials was studied by SEM. Thermal analysis studies were carried out in order to simulate the calcination process under predetermined heating conditions using. 29Si NMR test was carried out to study the level of silica condensation process for silica particles which templated by CPB surfactant. The results showed that when the template is used the textural characteristics of silica materials changes. Template type and concentration as well as H2O/ TEOS ratio influence the silica materials characteristics. The surface area, pore volume and average pore size increase in all samples with the increase of template ratio. The weight losses of templated silica materials are greater than template free silica material due to burning of templates during calcination process. From 29Si NMR results revealed that branching degree of silica polymers increases with aging time.