Facile and rapid ultrasound-mediated synthesis of spherical mesoporous silica submicron particles with high surface area and worm-like mesoporosity

Abstract

Here, a facile and rapid ultrasound-mediated synthesis at ambient conditions is proposed for production of novel spherical mesoporous silica submicron particles (MSP) with high specific surface area (SSA) and high worm-like mesoporosity. A one-pot synthesis was designed to involve soft-templating with cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), application of high-power ultrasound (Us) for hydrolysis/condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in methanol/NH4OH solution and vigorous magnetic stirring. Spherical MSP with worm-like mesoporous structure were produced with average particle diameter ~545 nm, SSA ca. 1544 m2/g, total pore volume as high as 0.75 cm3/g and NLDFT pore diameter of 2.94 nm. The developed MSP hold great promise for applications e.g. H2 storage, CO2 capture, removal of Hg from gas as well as drug delivery.