title: Ionic liquid-templated preparation of mesoporous silica embedded with nanocrystalline sulfated zirconia.
abstract: A series of mesoporous silicas impregnated with nanocrystalline sulphated zirconia was prepared by a sol-gel process using an ionic liquid-templated route. The physicochemical properties of the mesoporous sulphated zirconia materials were studied using characterisation techniques such as inductively coupled optical emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, elemental analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Analysis of the new silicas indicates isomorphous substitution of silicon with zirconium and reveals the presence of extremely small (< 10 nm) polydispersed zirconia nanoparticles in the materials with zirconium loadings from 27.77 to 41.4 wt.%.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Bldg, F11, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. th.maschmeyer@chem.usyd.edu.au.
authors.forename: Antony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Ajit A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pujari
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Costanzo
authors.forename: Anthony F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Masters
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maschmeyer