Synthesis of mesoporous aluminophosphate and silicoaluminophosphate in the presence of nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) surfactant

Thermally stable mesoporous aluminophosphate and silicoaluminophosphate materials have been synthesized by using nonionic PEO-surfactant C16H33(PEO)10OH as a structure-directing agent. The synthesized aluminophosphate and silicoaluminophosphate possess disordered wormhole-like mesostructures with pore sizes of 3.8 and 5 nm, respectively. BET surface areas of 376–412 m2/g are obtained. Both four- and six-coordinate Al and tetrahedrally coordinated P were observed. It is believed that these materials may find potential applications in the fields of catalysis and material sciences.