Synthesis of lamellar mesostructured phenylene-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMO) templated by polyion complex (PIC) micelles

Periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs), obtained by the surfactant-mediated hydrolysis-condensation of bridged organosilanes, combine versatile organic functionalities with advantages of a stable inorganic framework. Here, we introduce a novel synthesis of lamellar mesostructured phenylene-bridged PMOs templated by polyion complex (PIC) micelles (PICPMOs). The micelles assemble by electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, with one being part of a double-hydrophilic block copolymer (DHBC), and the other being a polybase oligochitosan (OC). The PICPMO material was characterized by a range of techniques, including TEM, IR spectroscopy, SAXS, TGA and elemental analysis, which indicates that the material exhibits long-range ordering with an inter-lamellae distance of around 15 nm. Advantages of the synthetic approach developed, together with potential applications of the PICPOs, are discussed. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].