Immobilization of a heteropolyacid catalyst on the aminopropyl-functionalized mesostructured cellular foam (MCF) silica

Abstract Mesostructured cellular foam (MCF) silica with high surface area (>600 m 2 /g) and large pore volume (≈1.16 cm 3 /g) was synthesized via a surfactant templating method. The MCF silica was then modified by grafting 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES) to create a positive charge on the surface, and thus, to provide sites for the immobilization of H 3 PMo 12 O 40 . By taking advantage of the overall negative charge of [PMo 12 O 40 ] 3− , the H 3 PMo 12 O 40 catalyst was chemically immobilized on the aminopropyl group of the surface modified MCF silica as a charge matching component. The mesopore structure of MCF silica was maintained even after the surface modification step and the subsequent immobilization step of H 3 PMo 12 O 40 . The H 3 PMo 12 O 40 species were finely and molecularly dispersed on the surface modified MCF silica via chemical immobilization.