Structural Control of Surfactant-Templated Hexagonal, Cubic, and Lamellar Mesoporous Silicate Thin Films Prepared by Spin-Casting

Large-area mesoporous silicate thin films are reported to be formed on solid silica substrates by the simple technique of spin-coating. The mesophase of the films can be controlled to be one-dimensional hexagonal, cubic, or lamellar by adjusting the casting solution composition, i.e., mainly the ratio of surfactant to tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The X-ray diffraction results leading to the assignment of the mesophase types are presented and reasons for the change of phase with solution composition discussed. The films are expected to have applications in catalysis, molecular separation, and sensors.