Controlling silicate meso-structures using sucupira oil as a new swelling agent

Ordered mesoporous SiO2 particles have been synthesized by incorporation of natural oil as swelling agent from solutions containing deionized water, ammonium hydroxide, tetraethylorthosilicate, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as structure-directing agent. The present work shows that the “sucupira oil” is an effective expander agent to enlarge the pore size and even allows obtaining different structural rearrangements of mesoporous materials. The obtained materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis. The results obtained show a highly ordered hexagonal, cubic and lamellar mesostructure depending of oil concentration. Furthermore, the increase of pore diameter in function of oil concentration was clearly observed by nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis.

Graphical abstractSmall angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) patterns of samples synthesized in different oil concentrations.Download full-size imageHighlights► Expanded mesoporous silica have been synthesized by incorporation of sucupira oil. ► The oil demonstrated great potentials in the pore size engineering fields. ► The materials presented an increase of pores sizes up to 26 Å. ► We tailor the final pore morphology from hexagonal to cubic or lamellar structures.