Synthesizing and Characterizing Mesoporous Silica SBA-15: A Hands On Laboratory Experiment for Undergraduates Using Various Instrumental Techniques

In this laboratory experiment, students learn how to synthesize mesoporous silica of the SBA-15 type and explore how the different synthesis steps affect the final material. Mesoporous materials, especially SBA-15, are often used in the development of new methods for. drug delivery, catalysis, and separation because of the flexibility of tailoring these materials to optimize the performance in different applications. However, the synthesis of mesoporous materials is rarely introduced to undergraduate students. The material synthesis is a simple sol gel process, where small alterations in the synthesis steps can significantly change the material characteristics. The presented laboratory experiment aims to introduce undergraduate students to the synthesis of SBA-15 mesoporous silica with different pore sizes due to alterations in the hydrothermal treatment time and/ or temperature and to give students hands-on experience with important characterization tools, including physisorption, X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis, to understand the effect of hydrothermal treatment and surfactant removal. Additional synthesis parameters to study, such as surfactant removal, the silica precursor, and pore swelling agents, are also presented. The experiment has been used in teaching of both bachelor's and master's students and can be adapted to various instrumental techniques, e.g., scanning electron microscopy for morphology studies, transition electron microscopy for pore structure characterization, etc.