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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Surface Properties of Synthesized Nanoporous Carbon and Silica Matrices
Published on: March 27, 2019
Synthesis of large pore-diameter SBA-15 mesostructured spherical silica and its application in ultra-high-performance
Xianbin Liu1, Laisheng Li, Yu Du
1School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
Abstract:
A modified synthesis approach for spherical large pore-diameter SBA-15 mesoporous silica (SLP-SBA-15) with particle size range of 0.5-1microm was being reported. It was worth mentioning that in this improved methodology, the use of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as co-template significantly reduced the self-assembly time from 24h to 45min. Moreover, under reflux condition, the reaction time could be further shortened by reducing the aging time from 48h to 6h. The resultant SLP-SBA-15 was thereafter successfully functionalized and packed into an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) column for the separation of aromatic compounds. A variety of characterizations demonstrated that the silica products exhibited a well-ordered 2d hexagonal mesostructure with well-formed spherical morphology. pore-diameter can be enlarged up to 8.2nm without affecting the structural order. The SLP-SBA-15 samples showed excellent thermal and hydrothermal stabilities. The octadecyltriethoxysilane functionalized SLP-SBA-15 (SLP-C18-SBA-15) was demonstrated to be an effective stationary phase in UHPLC application because the column exhibited significantly reduced column pressure (2800psi) at a flow rate of 0.4ml/min. Accordingly, it would afford greater flexibility for tuning of the flow rate to meet the fast separation requirement.
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