Publications Details
Template-mediated ontogenesis: A novel approach to mesomorphic materials
In this report the authors describe the methods they have developed for producing stable periodic mesoporous silica gels, thin films of mesoporous silica for sensor applications, a route to nonaqueous synthesis, and the use of various additives in controlling the pore size and structure of these materials. Mesoporous silica is formed by templating silica precursors around micelles of cationic quaternary ammonium surfactants. During the synthesis these micelles undergo a phase transition to a hexagonal, lamellar or cubic liquid crystalline state, thus imposing periodic order on the amorphous silica which occupies the interface of the hydrophilic cationic headgroups of the surfactants. The product of the bulk wet synthesis is a gel composed of micron size silica/surfactant particles, each of which consists of one or more crystalline domains of silica condensed around the surfactant template. The wet gel can then be washed and pyrolyzed to remove the surfactant template, yielding the periodic mesoporous silica product.