Block copolymer synthesis of high-quality cubic, large pore mesoporous millimeter spheres in the presence of inorganic salts

Highly ordered cubic mesoporous silica SBA-16 with millimeter spherical morphology (2-4 mm in diameter) has been synthesized using triblock copolymer as templates in the presence of inorganic salts. The use of inorganic salts greatly improves the quality of the resulted mesostructure by increasing the self-assemble ability of organic species and results in the formation of millimeter spheres by enhancing the interaction at the inorganic/organic interface. The calcined millimeter SBA-16 spheres have a surface area of 750 m²/g, a pore volume of 0.52 cm³/g, and a large pore size of 7.8 nm. These millimeter spheres may be readily used in the separation of large molecules.