Surface-Functionalized Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Hollow Spheres

Surface-functionalized periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) hollow spheres are successfully synthesized by using a hybrid silica precursor, 1,2-bis(trimethoxysilyl)ethane (BTME), and five precursors with different functional groups (-SH, -NH2, -CN, -C=C, -benzene) as well as surfactants, fluorocarbon and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, combining a new vesicle and liquid crystal dual templating technique. Different disruption effects on the final mesostructure are observed following the order of -SH from 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) > -benzene from (trimethoxysilyl)benzene (TMSB) similar to -C=C from vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) > -NH2 from 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) > -CN from 3-cyanopropyltriethoxysilane (CPTES). The particle size, cavity size, and wall thickness of these hollow spheres can be adjusted by changing the amount of precursors or surfactants applied. In terms of providing better control over surface properties of products and giving more uniform surface coverage of functional groups, this direct synthesis method may benefit future production of hollow particles by a combination of various bridged organic and terminal functional groups for more versatile applications in catalyst, separation, drug/gene delivery, microelectronics field, etc.