Synthesis of mesoporous structured material based on tin oxide

Mesoporous structured tin oxide with high specific surface area was synthes ized under acidic conditions at ambient temperature in this study. The synt hesis of this material was accomplished using a cationic surfactant (cetylt rimethylammonium bromide: CH3(CH2)(15)N+(CH3)(3)Br-) as the organic supramo lecular template and the hydrous tin chloride (SnCl4. 5H(2)O) and NH4OH as the inorganic precursor and counterion sources X-ray diffraction, thermogra vimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy have been used to ch aracterize the mesostructures formed at room temperature as well as calcine d at different temperature. The synthesis procedure strongly influenced the formation of the mesophase. The pore diameters and the surface areas of ma terials, evaluated from the N-2-sorption isotherms, indicate average pore d iameters of about 22 and 24 Angstrom and surface areas about 368 and 343 m( 2)/g for calcination at 300 and 350 degreesC respectively. The formation of the tin oxide mesostructured material was proposed due to the presence of the hydrogen-bonding interactions between supramolecular template and inorg anic precursors Sn4+ and OH-, which were supposed to self-assemble around t he cationic surfactant molecules. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.