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A tri-continuous mesoporous material with a silica pore wall following a hexagonal minimal surface

Nature Chemistry volume 1, pages 123–127 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Ordered porous materials with unique pore structures and pore sizes in the mesoporous range (2–50 nm) have many applications in catalysis, separation and drug delivery. Extensive research has resulted in mesoporous materials with one-dimensional, cage-like and bi-continuous pore structures. Three families of bi-continuous mesoporous materials have been made, with two interwoven but unconnected channels, corresponding to the liquid crystal phases used as templates. Here we report a three-dimensional hexagonal mesoporous silica, IBN-9, with a tri-continuous pore structure that is synthesized using a specially designed cationic surfactant template. IBN-9 consists of three identical continuous interpenetrating channels, which are separated by a silica wall that follows a hexagonal minimal surface. Such a tri-continuous mesostructure was predicted mathematically, but until now has not been observed in real materials.

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Figure 1: Morphology and PXRD pattern of IBN-9.
Figure 2: HRTEM images of IBN-9.
Figure 3: Representations of the 3D pore structure of IBN-9.
Figure 4: The tri-continuous channels divided by the branched hexagonal minimal surface.
Figure 5: Distribution of surface mean curvatures in the three different mesophases.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Bonneau for discussion related to topology and minimal surfaces, and P. Oleynikov for software assistance. This research is supported by the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (Biomedical Research Council, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore), the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA). J.-L.S. is supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Carl-Trygger Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Yu Han

    Present address: Present address: Division of Physical and Chemical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Jeddah, 21534, Saudi Arabia,

  2. Yu Han and Daliang Zhang: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, 138669, Singapore

    Yu Han, Leng Leng Chng, Lan Zhao & Jackie Y. Ying

  2. Structural Chemistry and Berzelii Center EXSELENT on Porous Materials, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden

    Daliang Zhang, Junliang Sun & Xiaodong Zou

  3. State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Daliang Zhang

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  1. Yu Han
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  3. Leng Leng Chng
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Contributions

J.Y.Y. and X.-D.Z. led the research at IBN and SU, respectively. Y.H. synthesized and characterized the mesoporous silica materials. L.L.C. synthesized the surfactant. Y.H., D.-L.Z. and L.Z. conducted the TEM studies. D.-L.Z. and J.-L.S. performed the structural determination and topological analysis. Y.H., D.-L.Z., J.Y.Y., X.-D.Z. and J.-L.S. wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiaodong Zou or Jackie Y. Ying.

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Han, Y., Zhang, D., Chng, L. et al. A tri-continuous mesoporous material with a silica pore wall following a hexagonal minimal surface. Nature Chem 1, 123–127 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.166

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