title: Spontaneous preparation of hierarchically porous silica monoliths with uniform spherical mesopores confined in a well-defined macroporous framework.
abstract: Hierarchically porous silica monoliths with well-defined interconnected macropores and uniform spherical mesopores were spontaneously prepared by combining polymerization-induced phase separation with an epoxide-mediated sol-gel route without any complicated aging and drying and high-temperature heat treatment. The precise control of pore structures can be realized by using propylene oxide (PO) as the gelation mediation agent, poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (P123) as the phase-separation inducer as well as the structure-directing agent and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) as the micelle-swelling agent. The as-prepared silica monolith possesses an interesting hierarchically porous structure constructed by 10 nm uniform spherical mesopores confined in a macroporous framework of well-defined 1 μm macropores, and exhibits a BET surface area as high as 848 m(2) g(-1). Heat treatment at 400-800 °C gradually decreases the BET surface area to 195 m(2) g(-1), while most of the uniform mesoporous structure remains intact.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. msewj01@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xingzhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanamori
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang