Mesoporous silica films with accessible pore structures on iron oxide

Continuous mesoporous silica films on iron(III) oxide have been prepared by a sol-gel technique using cationic surfactant as the structure-directing agent in aqueous media. The samples were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), infrared (IR) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The effect of silica modification on the iron oxide properties was also studied by sensory analysis.