Chiral mesoporous silica synthesized with the presence of different anionic acids

We report that chiral mesoporous silicas (CMSs) with highly ordered helical nano-sized channels were successfully synthesized by using chiral anionic amphiphilic molecules (N-acyl-l-alanine) as template upon a co-structural-directing-agent (CSDA) method. The effect of anionic in the solution on the pore size, mesostructure and morphology of the CMSs has been studied in details. We observed that: (1) in different inorganic acids reaction system, chiral mesoporous silica materials were achieved; (2) the pore size at a range of 2.40–2.95 can be adjusted by changing the species of inorganic acids in reaction system; (3) the pitch length and rod diameter maintained a linear relationship, as the acids changed from HCl, HBr and HNO3 to H2SO4.