Synthesis of hydrothermally stable aluminium-containing ethane-silica hybrid mesoporous materials using different aluminium sources

Aluminium-containing ethane-silica hybrid mesoporous materials having ethane groups in the frame wall positions are synthesized using aluminium isopropoxide as well as aluminium nitrate as the aluminium sources. The materials were characterized in detail using powder XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption, SEM, TEM, TG-DTG, TPD, 29Si, 13C and 27Al MAS NMR techniques. Characterization techniques revealed that aluminium isopropoxide was the appropriate source for the synthesis of organo aluminosilicas on considering the structural ordering, acidity as well as the percentage of aluminium incorporation into the ethane bridge. 27Al MAS NMR displays aluminium as tetrahedrally coordinated in both the aluminium-containing organosilicas. Unlike the conventional EtOH–HCl template extraction process, in the present studies, we had used EtOH–NH4OH as the surfactant-extracting medium and chemical analysis results suggest that using this procedure the extent of dealumination can be greatly reduced. XRD and nitrogen physisorption studies further proved that the materials are hydrothermally stable, that the ordered pore channels retains its structure even after 150 h reflux in boiling water, while the conventional Al-MCM-41 catalyst collapsed its mesostructure after 50 h reflux in water. The improved hydrothermal stability of the hybrid materials, even in presence of sodium ions, is attributed to the thick pore walls as well as due to the presence of hydrophobic bridging ethane groups in the wall positions.