Large
quantities of waste slags are produced during the preparation
of electrical manganese, causing serious pollution to the environment.
The recycling and utilization of electrolytic manganese slag (EMS)
is a serious challenge to the industry. Here, we report the utilization
of EMS in preparation of high-performance mesoporous silica using
amino-ended hyperbranched polyamide (AEHPA) as template. The effects
of AEHPA content and molecular weight on properties of mesoporous
silica, including the specific surface area, pore diameter, pore volume,
size, and distribution, have been investigated. On the basis of 0.3
wt % AEHPA-2 during the preparation of silica, the specific surface
area, pore volume, and pore diameter of the produced amorphous mesoporous
silica are 451.34 m2 g–1, 0.824 cm3 g–1, and 7.09 nm, respectively, showing
remarkable improvements over the silica without AEHPA in specific
surface area (271.05 m2 g–1), pore volume
(1.167 cm3 g–1), and pore diameter (17.43
nm). The formation mechanism of mesoporous silica has been supposed
and substantiated by FT-IR, XRD, XPS spectra, and SEM micrographs.
This preparation method of mesoporous silica from EMS may open a new
avenue for recycling and utilization of manganese slag.