Synthesis of microporous silica in the presence of dodecyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride surfactant

Microporous silicas with pore sizes in the range intermediate between traditional microporous and mesoporous materials have been synthesized by using dodecyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride as a template. These microporous silicas can be synthesized by either acidic S+X-I+ or basic S+I- assembly pathways and consist of disordered channels with almost identical pore sizes of 12.2 Angstrom in both cases. Their BET surface areas are larger than 1000 m(2)/g after being calcined in air.