Aerosol-generated mesoporous silicon oxycarbide particles

Aerosol-generated mesoporous organosilica submicronic spheres have been converted into porous silicon oxycarbide (SiCO) glasses by pyrolysis at 1000 °C in an inert atmosphere. Spherical mesoporous particles obtained from acidic solutions of 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane and Pluronic® F127 structuring agent were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N adsorption/desorption, and multinuclear solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR. These particles were then pyrolyzed at 1000 °C and transformed into a SiCO phase as evidenced by Si MAS NMR, while TEM shows preserved mesoporosity, unfortunately difficult to access owing to the presence of an outer layer of dense silica.