A solvent-free photochemical route for the preparation of mesoporous inorganic films
Résumé
An alternative to the Evaporation Induced Self Assembly (EISA) method is described as a fast and simplified approach towards mesoporous silica films. The sol-gel process is photochemically triggered with the aid of photoacid generator (PAG), thereby making mesostructuration independent of film deposition conditions, solvent evaporation and complex chemistry associated with a silica sol. The developed solvent-free synthesis uses non-ionic poly(ethylene oxide)-based surfactants and polydimethoxysiloxane, affording after UV irradiation a film with a wormhole porous framework, and a uniform pore size distribution. The disordered mesostructure was characterized by X-ray diffraction, N-2 adsorption, Si-29 solid-state NMR and transmission electron microscopy. (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.