A facile route for rapid synthesis of cubic mesoporous silica

Ordered SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials (MSMs) have been rapidly synthesized under weak acidic media in the presence of phosphomolybdic acid (abbreviated to HPMo) and inorganic salts (NaCl, Na2SO4, KCl and K2SO4) by using nonionic triblock copolymer F127 as a structure directing agent and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a silica source. Both HPMo and inorganic salts play a crucial role in promoting SBA-16-type MSMs formation, and the reaction products have still retained an ordered body-centered cubic (Im3m) mesostructure after treated with 100 °C water for 120 h. The high hydrothermal stability of reaction products might be attributed to the higher degree of polymerization and condensation of silanol groups, arisen from the synergistic effect of rapid nucleation with the aid of HPMo and salt effect during the crystallization process.

► SBA-16-type mesoporous silica materials have been rapidly synthesized within 6 h under weak acidic media.
► Promoting roles of phosphomolybdic acid and inorganic salts in SBA-16 formation were studied.
► Hydrothermal stability of SBA-16 was investigated.