Synthesis and characterisation of spherical periodic mesoporous organosilicas (sph-PMOs) with variable pore diameters

Monodisperse spherical periodic mesoporous organosilicas (sph-PMOs) with high specific surface areas and narrow pore size distributions were synthesised in a modified Stoeber-reaction using long-chain tetraalkylammonium surfactants under alkaline conditions and 1,2-bis(trimethoxysilyl)ethane (BTME) as a bridged organosilica precursor. Variation of the surfactant chain length leads to pore diameters between 2.5 and 3.2 nm. The synthesis yields particles with an average size between 0.4 and 0.5 mum. The sph-PMOs were characterised by powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), nitrogen physisorption, IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, SEM and TEM. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.