Micropore characterization of mesocellular foam and hybrid organic functional mesocellular foam materials

Abstract

The micro- and mesoporous structures of microemulsion templated mesocellular foam (MCF) silica materials aged at different temperatures were investigated by using nitrogen sorption αs-comparison plots and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). The impact of surface amino functionalization with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) on these structures was also studied. The nitrogen sorption αs- comparison plots show that the micropore volume of the MCF silica can be controlled by varying the synthesis aging temperature such that the higher the aging temperature, the smaller the micropore volume. The corresponding PALS data showed that this effect of temperature on micropore volu..