An energy-efficient route to the rapid synthesis of organically-modified SBA-15 via ultrasonic template removal

Abstract

A low energy route for the removal of Pluronic P123 surfactant template during the synthesis of SBA-15 mesoporous silicas is explored. The conventional reflux of the hybrid inorganic-organic intermediate formed during co-condensation routes to Pr-SO 3 H-SBA-15 is slow, utilises large solvent volumes, and requires 24 h to remove ∼90% of the organic template. In contrast, room temperature ultrasonication in a small methanol volume achieves the same degree of template extraction in only 5 min, with a 99.9% energy saving and 90% solvent reduction, without compromising the textural, acidic or catalytic properties of the resultant Pr-SO 3 H-SBA-15. Fig. 1 Annual new publications relating to SBA-15 materials. Citation data from Web of Knowledge (02/03/13).

Octyl Co‐grafted PrSO3H/SBA‐15: Tunable Hydrophobic Solid Acid Catalysts for Acetic Acid Esterification

“…The co‐existence of sulfonic acid and octyl chains on the SBA‐15 surface is confirmed by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS; Figure S3 in the Supporting Information). The parent SBA‐15 shows characteristic bands at 700–1400 cm −1 and 3000–3800 cm −1 indicative of framework Si‐O‐Si and surface silanols, respectively . Following incorporation of sulfonic acid groups, new weak bands centred at about 2950 and 2854 cm −1 evolve corresponding to CH 2 vibrations from alkyl chains, which increase in intensity with sulfonic acid loading.…”

Direct syntheses of a promising industrial organic–inorganic hybrid silica containing methanesulphonate

“…As a type of composite, they offer the advantages of both inorganic and organic components such as high surface areas, high thermostability, good mechanical strength and easy processability (Fernandes et al, 2014;Gong et al, 2014;Pirez et al, 2014). The biggest advantage of these materials is that their structure can be designed and controlled on the molecular level, so hybrid materials can be functionalised according to a specific application request and be widely applied.…”

Organo-Modification of Mesoporous SBA-15 with Chiral Diacid and its Utilization for the Preparation of L-Phenylalanine-Based Poly(amide-imide) Nanocomposites

“…Above all, ordered mesoporous materials such as SBA-15 are ideal candidates for functionalization due to their higher hydrothermal stability, desired morphology, adjustable pore sizes (2-30 nm), and thick walls that can be easily functionalized using different coupling agents [20] . Direct incorporation of organic groups through co-condensation or by grafting the organic groups onto the surface of the mesoporous silica can be used for the preparation of organic-functionalized materials [21] .…”