Synthesis, characterization and catalytic behavior of functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 with various organo-silanes

Mesoporous silica SBA-15 has been synthesized and functionalized by one-step synthesis method to widen their various application possibilities. In this study, phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMS), 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and trimethoxypropylsilane (TMPS) were used as silane precursors for the functionalization, and after treated with HCl solution, their catalytic activities were evaluated in the lactic acid-methanol esterification. The presence of anchoring of functional groups on SBA-15 was proved by XRD, FT-IR, BET surface area and pore size distributions. Good catalytic activity was observed especially for SBA-15-SO(3)H-MPTMS, and the catalytic activity order was determined as follows: SBA-15-SO(3)H-MPTMS>SBA-15-TMPS>SBA-15-PTMS, which is directly associated with the surface area, pore size and pore volume. As compared with homogeneous catalyst, SBA-15-SO(3)H-MPTMS heterogeneous catalyst shows remarkable performance, such as separation, recovery and reusability.