Mesostructured silica tubes and rods by templating porous membranes

Mesostructured silica tubes and rods were prepared by deposition of a prehydrolysed silica sol with surfactant onto the cylindrical pores of a polycarbonate (PC) membrane template, followed by calcination to remove the surfactant and membrane template. The tubular and rodlike morphologies of mesostructured silica were demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. The tubes and rods show ordered hexagonal mesostructures, which were demonstrated by small angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and TEM measurements.