HCI as a key parameter in size-tunable synthesis of SBA-15 silica with rodlike morphology

Highly ordered mesoporous SBA-15 silica particles with rodlike morphologies were synthetically controlled for the first time by adjusting hydrochloric acid concentration in the range of 0.1-5.0 M in the presence of block copolymer template under static condition but with no addition of inorganic salts. This work illustrates that it is possible to achieve a facile, convenient, reproducible high yield synthesis of SBA-15 silica particles with rodlike morphology in a wide range of length scale (0.4-4.5 microm in length), and it is HCl that plays a key role in regulating the morphological architecture of the mesoporous particles. The acid revealed strong effects not only on mesostuctural properties, but also on macrostructural morphologies of the resulting SBA-15 particles in a wide range of acid concentration (1.0-3.0 M).