SBA-15 mesoporous silica has been functionalized with aminopropyl groups through a simple co-condensation approach of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) using amphiphilic block copolymers under acidic conditions. The organic-modified SBA-15 materials have hexagonal crystallographic order, pore diameter up to 60 A, and the content of aminopropyl groups up to 2.3 mmol g(-1). The influences of TEOS prehydrolysis period and APTES concentration on the crystallographic order, pore size, surface area, and pore volume were examined. TEOS prehydrolysis prior to the addition of APTES was found essential to obtain well-ordered mesoporous materials with amino functionality. The amount of APTES incorporated in the silica framework increased with the APTES concentration in the synthesis gel, while the ordering of the mesoporous structure gradually decreased. Analysis with TG, IR, and solid state NMR spectra demonstrated that the aminopropyl groups incorporated in SBA-15 were not decomposed during the preparation procedure and the surfactant P123 was fully removed through ethanol extraction. The modified SBA-15 was an excellent base catalyst in Knoevenagel and Michael addition reactions.

The surface of CuO is known for its hydrophilicity and exhibits superhydrophilic nature as nanowires are present. When exposed in the air at room temperature or treated by low temperature annealing, however, transition from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity of the CuO nanowire films are observed. Since the chemical structure of the films after treatment remains the same as CuO according to x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra, the superhydrophobicity may be attributed to partial deoxidation of the upmost layer of CuO surfaces into Cu2O-like hydrophobic surfaces. Nonetheless, superhydrophilicity is recovered if the superhydrophobic CuO film is subject to high temperature annealing.

A facile synthesis route for preparing SBA-15 silica of platelet shape and very short mesochannels (150-350 nm) was developed by introducing a small amount of Zr(IV) ions in the synthesis solution.The synthesis route can be easily extended to prepare platelet SBA-15 materials with various organic functional groups up to 1.87 mmol/g loading in one pot. In situ XRD and freeze-fracture replication TEM were found to be powerful techniques for studying the self-assembly processes. The platelet SBA-15 with short mesochannels in 150-350 nm was formed because of the fast self-assembly rate of P123 micelles and TEOS accelerated by the Zr(IV) ions in the synthesis solution. The platelet SBA-15 materials are superior to the conventional SBA-15 of rod or fiber morphologies in facilitating molecular diffusion and less possibility of pore blockage when used in the sorption or reactions of bulky molecules.