Hierarchical mesoporous silica prepared from ethyl-cyanoethyl cellulose cholesteric liquid crystalline phase

Porous silica with hierarchical structures was prepared from ethyl-cyanoethyl cellulose/poly(3-(methacryloyloxy)propyl-trimethoxysilane) (E-CE)C/P(MPTOS) composites with fixed cholesteric liquid crystalline (LC) phase. The scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and N₂ sorption measurements results indicate that the silica prepared from cholesteric LC composites is of hierarchical macro-, meso- and micro-porous structures, and the average pore size of the silica can be tailored by the content of the cholesteric LC phase in the (E-CE)C/P(MPTOS) composites. The resultant silicas have high specific surface area with the highest value of 837 m²/g at the pore volume of 0.83 cm³/g. This approach provides a new choice for the preparation of porous silica materials, especially from the templates that are not compatible with aqueous system.