Triblock-Copolymer-Directed Syntheses of Large-Pore Mesoporous Silica Fibers

Mesoporous silica fibers with accessible, highly ordered large periodic pores are directly drawn from a highly viscous surfactant/silicate solution. Poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymers are used as the structure-directing agents under acidic conditions during the syntheses. These fibers have uniform exterior diameters of submicron to several hundred micron and no apparent limit on aspect ratios. They are made up of either supercage arrays or 2-dimensional channel arrays with pore sizes as large as 63 Å.