Synthesis of mesoporous silica materials with ascorbic acid as template via sol-gel process

Mesoporous silica materials with pore diameters of 2–5 nm have been prepared using ascorbic add as a nonsurfactant template or pore-forming agent in HCl-catalyzed sol-gel reactions of tetraethylorthosilicate, followed by removing the ascorbic acid compound by extraction with ethanol. Characterization results from nitrogen sorption isotherm, powder X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy indicate that me materials have large specific surface areas (e.g. 1000 m2/g) and pore volumes (e.g. 0.8 cm3/g). The mesoporosity is arisen from interconnecting disordered wormlike channels and pores with relatively broad size distributions. As the ascorbic acid concentration is increased, the pore diameters and pore volumes of the materials increase.