Sodium silicate as source of silica for synthesis of mesoporous SBA-15

Ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 was prepared using hydrothermal synthesis using sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) as the silica source and amphiphilic block copolymer Pluronic P123 as the structure directing agent. The influence of the mass Na2SiO3, ripening duration, aging time and calcination temperature on the structural and mesoporous properties of silica was studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the nitrogen adsorption desorption using Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) are some instruments used to characterize the results of investigation. From XRD analysis, SBA-15 synthesized from sodium silicate yield 2D-hexagonal symmetry (p6mm). From FTIR analysis, functional group Si-O-Si symmetric stretching modes and asymmetric Si-O- Si stretching modes were present. The sample with the highest mass of Na2SiO3 and the shortest aging time exhibited the largest surface area and large pore size. The results also showed the morphological structure could be tuned during ripening stage.