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Updated: Mar 19, 2026
Preparing Silica Aerogel Monoliths via a Rapid Supercritical Extraction Method
Published on: February 28, 2014
Ga[OSi(O(t)Bu)3]3·THF, a thermolytic molecular precursor for high surface area gallium-containing silica materials of
James P Dombrowski1, Gregory R Johnson2, Alexis T Bell3
1Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-1460, USA. tdtilley@berkeley.edu and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Abstract:
The molecular precursor tris[(tri-tert-butoxy)siloxy]gallium, as the tetrahydrofuran adduct Ga[OSi(O(t)Bu)3]3·THF (), was synthesized via the salt metathesis reaction of gallium trichloride with NaOSi(O(t)Bu)3. This complex serves as a model for isolated gallium in a silica framework. Complex decomposes thermally in hydrocarbon solvent, eliminating isobutylene, water, and tert-butanol to generate high surface area gallium-containing silica at low temperatures. When thermal decomposition was performed in the presence of P-123 Pluronic as a templating agent the generated material displayed uniform vermicular pores. Textural mesoporosity was evident in untemplated material. Co-thermolysis of with HOSi(O(t)Bu)3 in the presence of P-123 Pluronic led to materials with Ga : Si ratios ranging from 1 : 3 to 1 : 50, denoted UCB1-GaSi3, UCB1-GaSi10, UCB1-GaSi20 and UCB1-GaSi50. After calcination at 500 °C these materials exhibited decreasing surface areas and broadening pore distributions with increasing silicon content, indicating a loss of template effects. The position and dispersion of the gallium in UCB1-GaSi materials was investigated using (71)Ga MAS-NMR, powder XRD, and STEM/EDS elemental mapping. The results indicate a high degree of gallium dispersion in all samples, with gallium oxide clusters or oligomers present at higher gallium content.
