Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2015, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (6): 904-908.doi: 10.1007/s40242-015-5137-8

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Concentric Circular Approach in Mesoporous Silica Transition Process from Hexagonal to Vesicular Structure

HUANG Jue1,2, XIE Shihang1, MU Mingwei3, PENG Ce1, CAO Mengjing1, YAO Youwei2, CAI Qiang1,2   

  1. 1. School of Material Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China;
    2. Graduated School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, P. R. China;
    3. School of Material and Chemical Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, P. R. China
  • Received:2015-04-07 Revised:2015-06-01 Online:2015-11-01 Published:2015-11-24
  • Contact: CAI Qiang E-mail:caiqiang@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(No.2013CB932800) and the Shenzhen Projects for Basic Research, China(No.JCYJ20120831165730900).

Abstract:

We studied the synthesis of mesoporous silica from cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide(CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS) at different molar ratios(R). X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM), transmission electron spectroscopy(TEM) and nitrogen sorption analysis were then used to further investigate the internal relationship among different morphologies and structures, as well as the mechanism of the transition from hexagonal to vesicular structure. The results reveal that as R increased, a consistent and gradual transition occurred via a concentric circular secondary structure formed. The antagonistic effect between the decreasing curvature of surfactant micelle and increasing curvature of secondary structures may be the reason for the complex morphologies synthesized, and the increasing bending energy ΔGb is the main driving force for the transition.

Key words: Mesoporous material, Cationic-anionic surfactant, Structural transition, Silica, Self-assembly