Controllable synthesis of hollow mesoporous silica spheres and application as support of nano-gold

Hollow silica spheres with mesoporous structure were synthesized by sol-gel/emulsion method. In the process, the surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used to stabilize the oil droplet and also used as structure direct agent. The diameter of the hollow silica spheres, ranging from 895 nm to 157 nm, can be controlled by changing the ratio of ethanol to water and the concentration of the surfactant as well. The shell thickness of the spheres decreased when the ratio of ethanol to water decreased. The proposed mechanism of the formation of silica spheres could elucidate the experimental results well. Furthermore, the resultant hollow mesoporous silica spheres were then employed as support of nano-gold which was used to catalyze the isomerization reaction of propylene oxide to produce allyl alcohol. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.