Preparation of oxide with nano-scaled pore diameters using gel template

Silica, MgO and ZnO with various nano-scaled pore diameters were prepared with template gel synthesized from hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), where the latter worked as the cross-linker. The effects of the molar ratio [HEMA]/[EGDMA] in the gel were discussed in relation to the resultant porous structure. The pore diameter of the oxide was shown to be varied by the molar ratio [HEMA]/[EGDMA] which directly affects the structure of gel, particularly the mesh size. From the different trend in the variation of the pore size in the oxide, a contrasting trend depending on the molar ratio [HEMA]/[EGDMA] has been found for silica, MgO and ZnO. The mesh-filling and hydrogen bonding mechanism has been considered to explain the formation process of gel templated nanoporous silica and ZnO or MgO, respectively.