Mesoporous silica coatings through triblock-copolymer templated processing

Ongoing research is reported aimed at improving the properties of mesoporous silica-based coatings on Various substrates for optoelectronic or medical applications. Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) was selected as the silica precursor, and amphiphilic triblock copolymers poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) as the surfactant micellar template or structure-directing agents. Cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) was also used as a control agent. The effect of the templating agent and type of substrate (glass, Si, and Ti) on the mesoporosity, particularly on the alignment of the mesochannels, has been investigated. Three different treatments (thermocalcination, photocalcination, and solvent extraction) have been also studied to remove the organic templates.