Mesoporous Silica and Organosilica Materials: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Silica- and organosilica-based mesoporous materials with different pore structures and sizes (2–50 nm) have attracted increasing attention owing to their potential applicability in diverse fields. Among the mesoporous silica materials, MCM-41 with hexagonally ordered cylindrical pores, MCM-48 with a cubic pore structure, and SBA-15 with cylindrical pores arranged in a hexagonal order are the most studied mesostructured porous materials. In addition, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with defined morphology and size have been intensively studied because they possess unique and distinguishable features, such as high specific surface area with chemically modifiable surfaces due to Si-OH bonds, tunable pore diameter and large pore volume, chemical, mechanical and thermal stability.

Hybrid organic–inorganic nanostructured materials have emerged as a promising class of materials in a wide range of applications due to their unique properties resulting from incorporating organic groups into inorganic frameworks. Among such materials, periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) with well-defined pore structures and high organic content have received considerable attention since their discovery in 1999. These new hybrid materials are usually synthesized via the sol–gel process using a soft template and one or more hydrolyzable bridged-silane monomers. Their structures, morphologies, pore size, surface area, and chemical and physical properties can be tuned through a variety of synthetic parameters and conditions, such as structure of the organosilane monomers, pH, type of template agents, temperature, reaction times, and organic additives.

Mesoporous silica and PMO materials have been applied in various fields such as catalysis, drug delivery, chromatography, gas separation, adsorption, electronics, sensing, and light harvesting.

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences will present recent developments in research on mesoporous silica and PMO materials, including their synthesis and applications.

Prof. Dr. Raed Abu-Reziq
Guest Editor

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• Mesoporous silica materials
• Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs)
• Hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres
• Chiral mesoporous silica nanoparticles
• Hybrid materials
• Periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMO)
• PMO nanoparticles and nanospheres
• Hollow PMO nanospheres
• Chiral PMO
• Synthetic routes
• Catalysis
• Drug delivery
• Electronic and optical applications
• Adsorption and separation
• Light harvesting and energy applications
• Biological applications
• Environmental applications