Mechanism of mesoporous silica formation. A time-resolved NMR and TEM study of silica-block copolymer aggregation.

The dynamics of the synthesis of a mesoporous silica material SBA-15 is followed using time-resolved in situ 1H NMR and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Block copolymer-silica particles of two-dimensional hexagonal symmetry evolve from an initially micellar solution. The synthesis was carried out with the block copolymer Pluronic P123 (EO20-PO70-EO20) at 35 degrees C and using tetramethyl orthosilicate as the silica precursor. By using TEM, we can image different stages during the evolution of the synthesis. Flocs of spherical micelles held together by the polymerizing silica are observed prior to precipitation. With time, the structure of these flocs evolves and the transition from spherical to cylindrical hexagonally packed micelles can be monitored. The signal from the methyl protons of the PO part was recorded with 1H NMR. One observes a continuous increase in the signal width but with distinct changes in the spectral characteristics occurring in narrow time intervals. The spectral changes can be attributed to structural changes of the self-assembled aggregates. The 1H NMR and TEM studies reveal the same mechanism of formation. It is concluded that the aggregation is caused by a micelle-micelle attraction induced by oligomeric/polymeric silica that adsorbs to the EO palisade layer of the micelles and has the ability to bridge to another micelle. This adsorption also favors the formation of cylindrical aggregates relative to spherical micelles. The sequence of NMR and TEM observations can then be interpreted as the following sequence of events: (i) silicate adsorption on globular micelles possibly accompanied with some aggregate growth, (ii) the association of these globular micelles into flocs, (iii) the precipitation of these flocs, and (iv) micelle-micelle coalescence generating (semi)infinite cylinders that form the two-dimensional hexagonal packing.