Synthesis of cubic mesoporous silica SBA-1 with bulky headgroup surfactant cetyltripropylammonium bromide

Synthesis of well-ordered mesoporous silica SBA-1 (cubic Pm3n phase) has been achieved over a broad synthesis temperature range of 273-363 K using cetyltripropylammonium bromide (CTPABr) as the template, for the first time, under strongly acidic conditions with HCl. The materials thus obtained were characterized by a variety of techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), solid-state ²⁹Si NMR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen sorption measurements. The preservation of the cubic mesostructure strongly depends on the acid type, the synthesis temperature, and the synthesis composition. The larger headgroup of CTPABr, compared to that of cetyltriethylammonium bromide (CTEABr) used for the conventional synthesis of SBA-1, not only make the spherical micelle more stable against the temperature change, but also are sensitive to HCl concentrations at high synthesis temperatures.