Christabel E. Fowler

Transparent thin films and monoliths prepared from dye-functionalized ordered silica mesostructures

Micelle templating and co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane and 3-(2,4-dinitrophenylamino)propyl-triethoxysilane in the presence of hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide has been used to synthesize transparent yellow thin films and monoliths of organic dye-functionalized MCM-41 silica: these hierarchical materials consist of covalently linked inorganic–organic networks with mesoscale periodicity and macroscale organization.

Interfacial synthesis of hollow microspheres of mesostructured silica

Hollow microspheres with ordered mesoporous walls are synthesised under ambient conditions by a simple procedure involving dilution and neutralisation of an aqueous tetraethoxysilane/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide reaction mixture.

Template-directed synthesis of bi-functionalized organo-MCM-41 and phenyl-MCM-48 silica mesophases

Template-directed co-condensation was used to synthesize organo-functionalized MCM-41 silica hexagonal mesophases containing binary combinations of covalently linked phenyl and amino, thiol or allyl moieties; similar methods were used to prepare a phenyl-functionalized organo-MCM-48 silica with cubic structure.

Covalent coupling of an organic chromophore into functionalized MCM-41 mesophases by template-directed co-condensation

An ordered organo-silica-surfactant mesophase containing a covalently-linked chromophore was synthesized with MCM-41-type architecture by template-directed co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane and 3-(2,4-dinitrophenylamino)propyl(triethoxy)silane: a dye-functionalized mesoporous silica with hexagonal order was produced by surfactant extraction of the as-synthesized material prepared under acidic conditions.

Synthesis and characterization of orderedorgano–silica–surfactant mesophases with functionalizedMCM-41-type architecture

Ordered organo–silica–surfactant mesophases containing covalently linked functionalized moieties are prepared with MCM-41-type architectures by template-directed co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane and organotrialkoxysilanes (RO) 3 Si–R′ [R = Me, Et; R′ = (CH 2 ) 3 SH, (CH 2 ) 3 NH 2 , (CH 2 ) 3 OCH 2 CH(O)CH 2 , (CH 2 ) 3 NCHNCH 2 CH 2 or CH 2 CHCH 2 ].