Synthesis of organic–inorganic hybrid microspheres and the corresponding mesoporous silica nanoparticles

• Synthesis of P(MAA-co-MPS) hybrid microspheres.
• Synthesis of mesoporous silica microspheres in absence of surfactant.
• Distillation precipitation polymerization for synthesis of hybrids.

Poly(methacrylic acid-co-3-(methacryloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane) (P(MAA-co-MPS)) organic–inorganic hybrid microspheres were prepared by distillation–precipitation copolymerization of MAA and MPS in acetonitrile in absence of any surfactant and additive. The resultant hybrids had a spherical shape when the MPS inorganic precursor was varied from 0% to 60% in the comonomers during the polymerization. The hybrid microspheres can be facilely cross-linked via the hydrolysis of methoxy groups of polyMPS network and further self-condensation of the hydroxyl groups of silanols. As a result, the hybrid microspheres were facilely converted to mesoporous silica particles via the removal of the organic component through calcination. The narrow dispersed mesoporous silica had a high surface area of 554.2 m2/g as well as the average pore size of 8 nm and pore volume of 0.24 cm3/g. The corresponding microspheres were characterized by TEM, FT-IR, TGA, and nitrogen sorption–desorption.

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