Vol.36 No.3(2001.9)
Special Issue / Research Report
Novel Microstructure Inorganic Materials Developed by New Synthetic Technologies

Functionalized Mesoporous Materials with Controlled Pore-Wall Structures
Shinji Inagaki

Ordered mesoporous materials such as FSM-16 have excellent physical properties including a huge specific surface area, nanometer scale-fine pores and high stability that are merits for use as a catalyst and an adsorbent. However, the application of the mesoporous materials is limited to the narrow range because of its poor surface properties such as specific catalysis and adsorption due to their amorphous silica pore walls. It is important to provide novel adsorption and catalytic properties onto the pore walls to extend the uses of the mesoporous materials. Here, we report the synthesis and properties of three kinds of mesoporous materials possessing controlled pore wall structures. The mesoporous materials containing organic groups within the pore walls showed a high separation of organic compounds. Furthermore, the mesoporous materials containing functional organic groups are expected to show acid catalysis, proton conductivity and an ion-exchange property. The mesoporous TiXPO4 showed photo-catalytic activity for water decomposition that generated hydrogen. The mesoporous material having a microporosity within the pore walls had a higher separation of gases than FSM-16 and zeolite Y.