Microporosity of SBA-3 mesoporous molecular sieves

Evidences indicating the presence of micropores in SBA-3 are presented in this work. These include (1) large low-pressure adsorbed volume of liquid N-2 (e.g., 0.20 cm(3)/g at 0.001 P/P-0); (2) selective blocking of micropores by TEOS grafting; (3) evaluation of micropore volume (0.015 cm(3)/g) and micropore surface area (135 m(2)/g) from the alpha(s)-plot method; (4) geometric consideration: w(d)S/V = 5.1; (5) two-step adsorption/desorption processes of n-heptane vapor on SBA-3. As a result of the presence of these micropores in the silica wall of SBA-3, it can serve as a template to produce ordered carbon replicas. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.