High-Surface-Area SBA-15 with Enhanced Mesopore Connectivity by the Addition of Poly(vinyl alcohol)

The influence of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in the synthesis of SBA-15 was investigated. It was found that, by the addition of PVA, the surface area and porosity of SBA-15 is increased, while the structure and size of the mesopores remain unchanged. Nitrogen sorption measurements indicate that PVA introduces additional pores with pore sizes of around 2 nm into the pore wall. Thus, a simple way of improving the porosity of mesoporous silica is presented that could enhance transport of substrates through the porous system, important for catalytic applications and also beneficial for replication and nanocasting purposes. We, furthermore, show that a heterogeneous catalyst, Pt/SBA-15, with high surface area can be prepared by the addition of PVA-stabilized platinum nanoparticle sols.