Ordered Mesoporous Silica Pyrolyzed from Single-Source Self-Assembled Organic-Inorganic Giant Surfactants

We report the preparation of hexagonal mesoporous silica from single-source giant surfactants constructed via dihydroxyl-functionlized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (DPOSS) heads and a polystyrene (PS) tail. After thermal annealing, the obtained well-ordered hexagonal hybrid was pyrolyzed to afford well-ordered mesoporous silica. A high porosity (e.g., 581 m²/g) and a uniform and narrow pore size distribution (e.g., 3.3 nm) were achieved. Mesoporous silica in diverse shapes and morphologies were achieved by processing the precursor. When the PS tail length was increased, the pore size expanded accordingly. Moreover, such pyrolyzed, ordered mesoporous silica can help to increase both efficiency and stability of nanocatalysts.