Microemulsion templated mesoporous silica: characterisation via small angle x-ray scattering and stability in aqueous buffers

摘要

In this study we report on the stability of microemulsion templated mesoporous silica materials as a function of exposure time to 0.01 M phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4, determined via nitrogen sorption. The sorption isotherms were seen to have retained their characteristic shape even after 40 days exposure, which along with derived BdB-FHH spherical cell and window size distributions, BET surface areas and total pore volumes, indicates that the structural integrity of the materials has largely been maintained. Preliminary analysis of the small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) data of unexposed microemulsion templated mesoporous silica materials showed that the polydispersity of the cell size was seen to increase as the template size increased, a trend that is seen to reflect the polydispersity present in the template as previously determined via small angle neutron scattering (SANS).