Mesoporous SBA-15 Synthesis and Characterization Using Various Dispersing Agents

A successful synthesis of SBA-15 with semi-spherical morphology and suitable texture properties was achieved using hydrothermal technique. Sodium silicate, derived from silica sand from Iraq, was used as a silica precursor, and Pluronic p123 triblock copolymer was used as a template with a strong acid media (pH < 1). The effect of adding (1–3) g of either polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP -k30), or Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) dispersant agents on the texture properties of the synthesized SBA-15 was studied. The SBA-15 sample underwent various characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption using Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). XRD analysis showed a single peak in the 2θ= 20–25°, indicating the presence of pure SBA-15. The FTIR spectroscopy results demonstrated presence of key functional groups like silanone, siloxane, and silanol. Using these dispersant agents had a discernible effect on the dispersion of particles to an average particle size distribution in a nanoscale range producing a high surface area of the prepared SBA-15 material, which ranged between 349 to 871 cm2/g, while not influencing the pore volume, and pore size, which are ranged between 0.17 to 0.43 cm3/g, and between 2 to 2.5 nm, respectively. Also, all prepared samples had a nano-scale range. The optimum texture properties were obtained using 2 g of PVP-k30 dispersion agent. Finally, it was observed that the spherical shape of SBA-15 particles was distorted by introducing more than 1 g of dispersion agents.