PREPARATION AND CHARACTERISATION OF COPPER-SUBSTITUTED SBA-16 TYPE MESOPOROUS MATERIALS BY MODIFIED pH-ADJUSTING METHOD

Copper-containing SBA-16 type mesoporous material was synthesised by modified pH-adjusting method at different pH values (pH 3, 5, and 7). In this method after formation of materials' basic structure the pH of mixture was adjusted with aqueous ammonia solution, stirred and filtered directly avoiding second hydrothermal treatment. The characterisation results revealed that copper was successfully incorporated into silica framework. The pH value was found to be a very important parameter in deciding the final structure, pH 5 was the most suitable pH value for preparation of ordered Cu-SBA-16, increase in pH to 7 resulted in formation of structure with less order. The material was applied for adsorption desulfurisation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) to check its performance.