Synthesis of mono-dispersed mesoporous silica spheres with highly ordered hexagonal regularity using conventional alkyltrimethylammonium halide as a surfactant

Mono-dispersed mesoporous silica spheres with highly ordered hexagonal regularity were obtained with tetramethoxysilane (TMOS)-alkyltrimethylammonium chloride-methanol-water-sodium hydroxide. Just by changing the methanol ratio in the solvent, mono-dispersed particles were obtained with C(14)TMACl, C(16)TMACl and C(18)TMACl as surfactants under the same reactant concentrations. The adsorption properties of the samples were specific surface areas of 1150-1200 m(2) g(-1) and pore volumes of 0.60-0.81 cm(3) g(-1). Work is underway to explore new potential applications of these materials which possess both mono-dispersion characteristics and ordered mesoporous regularity with various mean pore sizes and particle diameters.