Macro-cellular silica foams: synthesis during the natural creaming process of an oil-in-water emulsion

The room-temperature synthesis of a macro–mesoporous silica material during the natural creaming process of an oil-in-water emulsion is reported. The material has 3-dimensional interconnected macropores with a strut-like structure similar to meso-cellular silica foams with mesoporous walls of worm-hole structure. The material has very high surface area (~800 m^2 g^–1) with narrow mesopore size distribution.