Organogelators for making porous sol-gel derived silica at two different length scales

New sol-gel derived silicas made with a double porous network with pore sizes on two very different length scales (typically several nm and several mu m) are reproducibly synthesised using molecular 2,3-di-n-decyloxyanthracene (DDOA) organogelators. The micron sized fibrous patterns made in methanol by DDOA aggregates are used as a blueprint for the growing of porous silica fibres. At the same time the mesoporous silica network seems to be templated by smaller DDOA aggregates. By varying the DDOA concentration, the mean size of the mesoporous network increases from 50 to 120 Angstrom and the pore shape changes from a ink-bottle to a cylindrical type.