Size effect on SBA-15 microporosity

The experimental published data on SBA-15 microporosity was interpreted using a size effect approach. This approach regards the wall micropores of SBA-15 material as stress-induced defects in its pores walls. It was shown that the microporosity is the function of the ratio of the pore wall thickness to pore diameter—the characteristic parameter representing the size of nanotubular silica pores. This suggests that the size effect plays an important role in the microporosity formation and supplements the template-induced microporosity related to the partial occlusion of the PEO chains in silica matrix.