Nature 359, 710 - 712 (22 October 1992); doi:10.1038/359710a0

Ordered mesoporous molecular sieves synthesized by a liquid-crystal template mechanism

C. T. Kresge^*, M. E. Leonowicz^*, W. J. Roth^*, J. C. Vartuli^* & J. S. Beck^†

Mobil Research and Development Corporation, ^*Paulsboro Research Laboratory, Paulsboro, New Jersey 08066, USA
^†Central Research Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA

MICROPOROUS and mesoporous inorganic solids (with pore diameters of 20 Å and 20–500 Å respectively)¹ have found great utility as catalysts and sorption media because of their large internal surface area. Typical microporous materials are the crystalline framework solids, such as zeolites², but the largest pore dimensions found so far are 10–12 Å for some metallophosphates^3–5 and 14 Å for the mineral cacoxenite⁶. Examples of mesoporous solids include silicas⁷ and modified layered materials^8–11, but these are invariably amorphous or paracrystalline, with pores that are irregularly spaced and broadly distributed in size^8,12. Pore size can be controlled by intercalation of layered silicates with a surfactant species^9,13, but the final product retains, in part, the layered nature of the precursor material. Here we report the synthesis of mesoporous solids from the calcination of aluminosilicate gels in the presence of surfactants. The material^14,15 possesses regular arrays of uniform channels, the dimensions of which can be tailored (in the range 16 Å to 100 Å or more) through the choice of surfactant, auxiliary chemicals and reaction conditions. We propose that the formation of these materials takes place by means of a liquid-crystal 'templating' mechanism, in which the silicate material forms inorganic walls between ordered surfactant micelles.

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