Micro- and mesoporous silicas synthesized in acidic water–ethanol solution of equimolar catanionic surfactant

Abstract Porous silicas with combined micro- and mesoporosity are synthesized in acidic water–ethanol solution of equimolar catanionic mixture, where the mesopores are narrowly and uniformly distributed, and the micropores generate due to the addition of ethanol. To vary the pH value of the synthetic mixture can also change the ratio of micro-/mesopores volume in the resulting samples. Compared with other amorphous silica gels and ordered mesoporous silicas including MCM-41, MCM-48 and SBA-15, these micro- and mesoporous silicas show much improved adsorptive capacity for volatile nitrosamines.