Synthesis of mesoporous microparticles for biomedical applications

Towards the design of bioceramics with control over both macroscopic shape and mesoporosity, silica based mesoporous materials have been synthesized using evaporation-induced self-assembly method by two different routes: room temperature (RT) and aerosol-assisted synthesis (A-A). Two series varying surfactant/silica precursor ratio have been synthesized in order to check the mesopore ordering as a function of the structure directing agent amount in both preparation procedures. The A-A method leads to spherical microparticles, which exhibit mesopore ordering for a wider surfactant/silica range compared with room temperature method, which yield irregular shaped particles. Textural properties values show that for the same surfactant amount, aerosol-assisted method develops higher porosity values in the obtained silica microparticles. © 2008 Trans Tech Publications.