Synthesis of Heteroatom Substituted SBA-15 by the “pH-Adjusting” Method

A simple and effective method denoted "pH-adjusting" is used to graft a large amount of heteroatoms such as Al and Ti to mesoporous silica material SBA-15. The products prepared by this method show highly ordered mesostructures with large surface areas and uniform mesopore size distribution. The results of ICP, EDX, 27Al NMR, calcium ion-exchange capacity, and UV−vis spectra show that almost all the heteroatoms added into the initial reaction mixture can be introduced into the products, and moreover, the heteroatoms introduced by this route locate at mainly tetrahedrally coordinated sites.