Continuous-flow synthesis of mesoporous SBA-15

Ordered mesoporous silicas are widely used in separation science and catalysis, however, their slow batch synthesis is a barrier to scale-up new applications. SBA-15 one of the most extensively studied commercially available silicas, whose textural properties can be readily tuned through judicious choice conditions. Here we demonstrate continuous flow high yield at 80 °C using simple tube reactor without any mixing device. The resulting exhibits excellent properties, with BET surface area 566 m2 g−1 ordered 5.1 nm mesopore channels p6mm arrangement, akin those from conventional synthesis, but far higher productivity than previously reported or (5.3 g L−1 h−1 versus 0.4 0.6 respectively).