Biomimetic Templating of Porous Lamellar Silicas by Vesicular
Surfactant Assemblies
Peter T. Tanev
and
Thomas J. Pinnavaia
*
A biomimetic templating approach to the synthesis of lamellar
silicas is demonstrated. The procedure is based on the hydrolysis and
cross-linking of a neutral silicon alkoxide precursor in the
interlayered regions of multilamellar vesicles formed from a neutral
diamine bola-amphiphile. Unlike earlier surfactant-templating
approaches, this method produces porous lamellar silicas (designated
MSU-V) with vesicular particle morphology, exceptional thermal
stability, a high degree of framework cross-linking, unusually high
specific surface area and pore volume, and sorption properties that are
typical of pillared lamellar materials. This approach circumvents the
need for a separate pillaring step in building porosity into a lamellar
host structure and offers new opportunities for the direct fabrication
of adsorbents, catalysts, and nanoscale devices.
Department of Chemistry and Center for Fundamental Materials
Research, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
