Synthesis of mesoporous TS-1 by hydrothermal and steam-assisted dry gel conversion techniques with the aid of triethanolamine

TS-1 with mesopore size of 3.3–6.5 nm was synthesized by hydrothermal and steam-assisted dry gel conversion techniques with the aid of triethanolamine. The effects of the addition of triethanolamine in the synthesis solution were investigated. XRD, SEM, FT-IR, TG–DTA, UV–vis spectroscopy and N2 adsorption were used to characterize the dry gels and the products. UV–vis spectra and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms indicated that the addition of triethanolamine could promote the stability of tetrahedral Ti and create more mesopores in the dry gel. When more triethanolamine was added, the BET surface area and the pore volume of the corresponding dry gel were larger. Addition of triethanolamine had stronger influence on the formation of mesopore in TS-1 synthesized by dry gel conversion technique than by hydrothermal synthesis. The mesopore volume and the mesopore size of TS-1 synthesized by dry gel conversion technique increased with the increasing amount of triethanolamine added in the synthesis solution. The catalytic performance of TS-1 was examined by benzene hydroxylation with hydrogen peroxide. The results indicated that TS-1 synthesized by dry gel conversion technique exhibited higher activity than that by hydrothermal synthesis when the same amount of triethanolamine was added.