Synthesis and Pore Size Control of Cubic Mesoporous Silica SBA-1

The formation of silica−surfactant mesostructures has been studied under various acidic conditions using tetraethyl orthosilicate and hexadecyltriethylammonium bromide. The synthesis conditions have been optimized in order to obtain the cubic ( Pm 3 n ) mesoporous molecular sieve designated as SBA-1 of high quality. The pore diameter of the SBA-1 material has been controlled within the range of 1.4−2.7 nm by expanding the surfactant micelles with 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene or substituting the hexadecyl group of the surfactant with other n -alkyl groups (C 12 H 25 to C 18 H 37 ).