Abstract:

The effect of HCl content on the structural properties of the MCM-41 mesophase synthesized via the S+X-I+ assembly using cetylpyridinium bromide (CPBr) as the template and the tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as silica source has been studied. It was found that with the decrease of TEOS/HCl ratio, the crystallinity, unit cell parameter and pore wall thickness of the MCM-41 silica increased, accompanied by the decrease in the mean pore size. While the efforts contributed to the template removal provided evidence that 100% of the CPBr encapsulated in the as-synthesized mesophase was recoverable by using acetone/water (1: 1 V/ V ) as the extractive agent. The mechanism for the formation of the titled mesophase, as well as the association of CPBr with the framework of the composite have also been discussed.

Key words: MCM-41, Cetylpyridinium bromide, Synthesis, Template removal