Effects of different templating agent on the structure of silica MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves

Using cetyltriethylammonium bromide and cetyltrimethylammoniurn bromide as templating agent respectively, and silicasol as silica source, the mesoporous molecular sieves MCM-41 were synthesized by hydrothermal method in basic media. The synthesized samples were characterized by XRD N-2 adsorption-desorption TG-DTA and IR. The effects of different templating agent on the crystalline structure pore diameter and pore size distribution of synthesized silica MCM-41 were investigated. The experimental results show that the templated by cetyltriethylammonium bromide, compared with those templated by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, have larger pore diameter and pore volume with 4. 72 nm and 1. 14 cm(3) - g (-1) respectively and narrower pore size distribution. For the preparation of large pore mesoporous MCM-41, cetyltriethylammoniurn bromide is a more effective templating agent than cetyltrimethylammonium bromide.