Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous MCM-41 templated by the mixture of cationic-anionic surfactant

Using the mixture of cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and anionic Sodium Alkyl Epoxy Ethylene Carboxylate (AEC(9)Na) as template, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica source, ethylenediamine (EDA) as base source, mesoporous MCM-41 has been synthesized at room temperature, characterized by X-ray power diffraction (XRD) and N-2 adsorption. The results showed that with the change of the ratio of cationic to anionic surfactant the pore size can be controlled and the mesoporous MCM-41 has larger pore size than that synthesized by using CTAB alone as template.