Stable ordered mesoporous silica materials templated by high-temperature stable surfactant micelle in alkaline media

Ordered hexagonal mesoporous silica material (JLU-30) has been successfully synthesized in alkaline media at high temperature (> 160 degreesC, using cationic (1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidin-2-ylidene)hexadecylmethyl-ammonium bromide (DIHAB) as a template, and characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG), as well as Al-27 and Si-29 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Mesoporous JLU-30 shows much higher hydrothermal stability than MCM-41. Si-29 NMR spectra indicate that the pore walls of JLU-30 samples synthesized at high temperature (160 degreesC) are fully condensed, giving a Q(4)/Q(3) ratio as high as 6.2. In contrast, MCM-41 synthesized at relatively low temperature (100 degreesC) shows the Q(4)/Q(3) + Q(2) ratio at 1.1. Such unique structural feature might be responsible for the observed highly hydrothermal stability of the mesoporous silica materials (JLU-30). Furthermore, heteroatoms such as Al and Ti species have been easily introduced into the mesoporous walls of JLU-30 by using a simple mixture of TEOS with aluminum or titanium source in the initial reaction gel.