Synthesis of mesoporous SBA-15 having macropores by dual-templating method

SBA-15 has better hydrothermal stability due to its thicker wall than MCM-41. With macropores introduced, mesoporous mateirals could have better leverage in mass transfer and they should be very attractive in the area of adsorption, catalysis and separation. The meso/macroporous silicates (macroporous SBA-15) were prepared by a new and simpler dual-templating method; a combination of liquid crystal mesophase of surfactant and closed packed array of colloidal crystal template such as polystyrene (PS) bead. Macropores are entrapped within the thread-like morphology of SBA-15 along the direction of thread bundles and their ordering can be controlled with the amount of PS template. The macroporous SBA-15 samples were shown to improve the adsorption dynamics especially for bulky volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as p-xylene. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.