A Procedure for the Synthesis of Aluminum-Substituted Nanoporous Silica Molecular Sieve

The discovery of silica-based and metal-substituted mesoporous materials M41S (MCM-41, MCM-48, MCM-50) has attracted intense interest due to their high surface area, uniform pore size distribution, large pore size, and highly valuable potential applications in the field of catalysis, separation, and adsorption [1-4]. However, the materials consisting of pure silica frameworks are of limited use for various catalytic applications because of the lack of acid sites and ion-exchange capacity. The ability to tailor the pore structure and control the chemical composition of these materials represents a timely topic in catalysis research. The incorporation of Al and other transition metal elements into the amorphous silica walls is mandatory for the formation of a catalytically active site in mesoporous molecular sieves [5-6]. In the present contribution Aluminum-substituted mesoporous (Al-SBA-15) materials were synthesized by a one-step rout with high Al content in order to increase the acidity without changing its structural order or increasing the complexity of the synthesis. The effect of synthesis temperature of Al-SBA-15 materials has also been reported

Keywords:

Molecular Sieve , Nanoporous , Silica , Aluminum