Ordered meso-/macroporous silica and titania films by breath figure templating in combination with non-hydrolytic sol–gel processing

• Breath figure templating was successfully combined with non-hydrolytic sol–gel processing.
• Meso-/macroporous silica and titania materials were obtained.
• Long range ordered mesopore networks were obtained for the siliceous products.
• For titania crystalline products comprising interparticle mesoporosity were synthesized.

A facile and cost efficient approach towards meso-/macroporous silica and titania materials is presented by a combination of breath figure (BF) templating with non-hydrolytic sol–gel processing and evaporation-induced self-assembly. Coatings as well as powders can be synthesized by simply casting sols containing the respective metal alkoxide/chloride mixture in the presence of a polymeric cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) solution and small amounts of water into Petri dishes. For the siliceous products a long range ordered mesopore network has been obtained, while for titania crystalline products comprising interparticle mesoporosity with only a low degree of long range ordering were synthesized. The addition of CAB to the sol induced the formation of macropores. It was found that the ageing time of the sol after homogenization by ultrasonication as well as the polymer content play an important role in the formation of the macroporous morphology.

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