Deconvolution of pectin carbonised template silica thin-film: synthesis and characterisation

Abstract

This study shows, for the first time, the synthesis of a carbonised pectin templated silica thin-film material. The aim of this work is to investigate the vibration of carbon groups of pectin–silica xerogels using infrared spectroscopy and curve-fitting software. Thin films were prepared using a two-step acid–base catalysed sol-gel method, employing tetraethyl orthosilicate as the main precursor. Various concentrations of pectin (0.1 wt%, 0.5 wt% and 2.5 wt%) were used as templating agents. These were firstly dissolved in glycerol, and mixed with the silica thin-film material. The sols was then dried in an oven at 60°C for 12 h, and calcined in air using rapid thermal processing at 300°C and 400°C for 1 h. The results show that the concentration of carbon groups for samples calcined under 400°C is higher than that of samples calcined at 300°C – especially in the region of 800 cm−1 for silica-carbon. This clearly shows that the calcination temperature influences the polymerisation of carbon group templates in the silica matrices.