engleski

Synthesis of mesoporous silica

Mesoporous materials are materials that have pore diameter values between 2 and 50 nm according to the IUPAC nomenclature. Due to their unique properties, they have gained a considerable amount of attention within the fields of catalysis, adsorption and ion exchange. Thanks to great specific surface area (SSA) of mesoporous materials, they also play an important role in the synthesis of numerous ceramic materials via the nanocasting technique. Two main structures of mesoporous silica are usually being considered in scientific investigations, and those are the hexagonal SBA-15 (sometimes also known as pseudo- 1D structure), and the cubic KIT-6 (3D structure). The goal of this work is to prepare KIT-6 mesoporous silica which will serve as a nanocasting template. The characterization of the material is done using several different characterization techniques, such as FTIR, XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, DTA-TGA, SEM and EDX. Silica was prepared using various aging temperatures (60, 100, 140 °C) which affect the pore sizes and distribution, directly influencing the SSA. In theory, the higher is the aging temperature, the larger are the pores. Different samples were characterized and it has been found that highly pure silica was obtained. Also, it has been proven that the increase of the aging temperature results in the increase of pore size values and SSA (up to 900 m2 g-1). The relatively easy control of the pore size and distribution, as well as quick and safe template removal make silica-based mesoporous materials very suitable nanocasting agents and open up an opportunity for further development.

mesoporous silica ; KIT-6 ; template

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