Hierarchical porous silica (HPS) was synthesized via green sol-gel process by using sodium silicate solution and skimmed natural rubber (NR) latex as silica precursor and template, respectively. Both raw materials are cheap and environmentally friendly. The influences of the template-to-silica ratio, the template removal method (either calcination or solvent extraction), and the pH on the pore properties were investigated. During the silica formation, the presence of NR particles generated macropores in the HPS and slightly increased the interspacing of silica agglomerates. The NR existence did not disturb the spacing within the agglomerates. The morphology and thermogravimetric analysis results confirmed the suitability of calcination in template removal, compared with solvent extraction. Furthermore, the calcination process was three times as faster than the solvent extraction. The morphology of HPS could be regulated by changing pH as pH not only influenced the size of primary silica particles, but also the strength of the interactions between the NR template and the primary silica particles.

Effects of the template removal methods and pH on formation of hierarchical porous silica using natural rubber as template

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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