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Solvothermal removal of the organic template from L 3 (“sponge”) templated silica monoliths

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Abstract

We compare the methods of continuous solvent (Soxhlet) and supercritical solvent extractions for the removal of the organic template from nanostructured silica monoliths. Our monoliths are formed by templating the L 3 liquid crystal phase of cetylpyridinium chloride in aqueous solutions with tetramethoxy silane. The monoliths that result from both Soxhlet and supercritical extraction methods are mechanically robust, optically clear, and free of cracks. The Soxhlet method compares favorably with supercritical solvent extraction in that equivalent L 3-templated silica can be synthesized without the use of specialized reactor hardware or higher temperatures and high pressures, while avoiding noxious byproducts. The comparative effectiveness of various solvents in the Soxhlet process is related to the Hildebrand solubility parameter, determined by the effective surface area of the extracted silica.

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Acknowledgements

Support for this research was provided by support from Lucent Technologies and the DARPA-sponsored MURI program at Princeton University (Grant # DAAH04-95-1-0102). Additional support was provided by NASA under the BIMat URETI (Grant # NCC-1-02037).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Daniel M. Dabbs & Ilhan A. Aksay

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Norbert Mulders

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  1. Daniel M. Dabbs
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  2. Norbert Mulders
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  3. Ilhan A. Aksay
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Correspondence to Ilhan A. Aksay.

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Dabbs, D.M., Mulders, N. & Aksay, I.A. Solvothermal removal of the organic template from L 3 (“sponge”) templated silica monoliths. J Nanopart Res 8, 603–614 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-005-9063-4

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