Simple systematic synthesis of periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles with adjustable aspect ratios

One-dimensional periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles with tunable aspect ratios are obtained from a chain-type molecular precursor octaethoxy-1,3,5-trisilapentane. The aspect ratio can be tuned from 2:1 to >20:1 simply by variation in the precursor concentration in acidic aqueous solutions containing constant amounts of triblock copolymer Pluronic P123. The mesochannels are highly ordered and are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the PMO particles. No significant Si-C bond cleavage occurs during the synthesis according to29Si MAS NMR. The materials exhibit surface areas between 181 and 936 m2 g-1.