Synthesis and morphological investigation of ordered SBA-15-type mesoporous silica with an amphiphilic triblock copolymer template under various conditions

Finely ordered SBA-15-type mesoporous silica materials were synthesized by templating with an amphiphilic block copolymer under various conditions, and their internal two-dimensional hexagonal mesostructures were confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns, transmission electronic microscopy and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms. Evaluation on morphological dependence of the synthetic conditions demonstrated that, for the samples synthesized through a one-step route, a variety of morphologies (e.g. short columns, spheres, hexagonal platelets, etc.) were achieved by means of adjusting acid species, reaction temperature, acidity and the concentration of inorganic salt. For the samples synthesized through a two-step route under mildly acidic conditions, the morphologies can be controlled by acidity of the solutions, and exhibits the irregularly faceted particles, the spherical ones, and the aggregated spheres by varying the pH from 1.02 to 2.61.